Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1995

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 229, NWS Birmingham, AL

May 18, 1995Chilton County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 18, 1995, 8:46 PM CDT for Chilton County, Alabama. It was in force for 29 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 18, 1995, 8:46 PM CDT (01:46 UTC)
Expired
May 18, 1995, 9:15 PM CDT
In force
29 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Chilton County, AL

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 1.8 hours before the alert went out and 37 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Birmingham, AL at 00:00Z on 1995-05-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2545 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Birmingham, AL at 00:00Z on 1995-05-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 234 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.
Mixed-layer CAPE
2545 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-14 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
873 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
234 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
233 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
4.1
Supercell composite
17.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KBHM 190146
SVRBHM
ALC021-190215-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
846 PM CDT THU MAY 18 1995
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  915 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN CENTRAL ALABAMA
 
   ...CHILTON COUNTY
 
AT 8:45 PM WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER
SOUTHEASTERN CHILTON COUNTY. THIS STORM IS MOVING EAST NORTHEAST AT 30
MPH AND WILL CROSS I-65 JUST SOUTH OF CLANTON AROUND 9 PM.
 
 
WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A
STRONG BUILDING.  DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS.  DON'T USE TELEPHONES
OR ELECTRICAL APPPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL THE STORM
HAS PASSED.  MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE INTO LOW WATER CROSSINGS.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 18, 7:05 PM CDT, 1 hour 41 minutes before
ALZ040-041-190105-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MONTGOMERY AL
705 PM CDT THU MAY 18 1995

AT 6 PM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR IN MONTGOMERY INDICATED A
THUNDERSTORM EMBEDDED WITHIN AN AREA OF RAINSHOWERS.  THIS THUNDERSTORM
WAS LOCATED IN EASTERN HALE COUNTY AND WESTERN PERRY COUNTY MOVING TO
THE EAST AT 40 MPH.  EXPECT THE THUNDERSTORM TO MOVE INTO NORTHERN
DALLAS COUNTY AND WESTERN AUTAUGA COUNTY WITHIN THE NEXT HOUR.

STRONG GUSTY WINDS...DANGEROUS CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING...AND
VERY HEAVY RAINFALL CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM.  MOTORISTS
SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR SUDDEN REDUCTIONS IN VISIBILITY IN AREAS
OF HEAVY RAIN. YOU SHOULD WATCH FOR PONDING ON AREA ROADWAYS AND
BE PREPARED FOR POSSIBLE HYDROPLANING.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 18, 7:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPerry44 min
May 18, 7:28 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXLauderdale62 min
May 18, 8:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLimestone, Morgan57 min
May 18, 8:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLawrence51 min
May 18, 9:08 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSumter52 min
May 18, 9:27 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXSumter33 min
May 18, 9:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFranklin58 min
May 18, 10:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMadison, Morgan61 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Alabama, 1995Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1995

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.