Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1995

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 314, NWS Birmingham, AL

July 3, 1995Blount County, Jefferson County, St. Clair County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 3, 1995, 5:43 PM CDT for Blount County, Jefferson County, St. Clair County, Alabama. It was in force for 47 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Jul 3, 1995, 5:43 PM CDT (22:43 UTC)
Expired: Jul 3, 1995, 6:30 PM CDT
In force: 47 min
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL
Area: Whole counties

Counties Blount County, AL, Jefferson County, AL, St. Clair County, AL

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 66 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:43 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 10.7 hours before the alert went out and 66 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 780 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -40 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 978 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 29 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 54 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 43 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 1.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBHM 032245 RRA
SVRBHM
ALC073-115-009-032330-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
543 PM CDT MON JUL 3 1995
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  630 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN CENTRAL ALABAMA
 
   ...JEFFERSON COUNTY...ST. CLAIR COUNTY
 
IN NORTH ALABAMA
 
   ...EASTERN BLOUNT COUNTY
 
AT 543 PM CDT...WEATHER SERVICE RADARS SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IN
NORTHEAST JEFFERSON COUNTY NEAR PINSON. THIS STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST
AT 20 MPH...AND WILL BE MOVING ALONG THE BLOUNT/ST CLAIR COUNTY LINE
DURING THE NEXT 30 TO 45 MINUTES. THIS STORM HAS A HISTORY OF PRODUCING
LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WIND.
 
 
WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A
STRONG BUILDING.  DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS.  DON'T USE TELEPHONES
OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES 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, Jul 3, 2:04 PM CDT, 3 hours 39 minutes before

ALZ036>038-040>050-057-058-060-065>069-032005-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MONTGOMERY AL
204 PM CDT MON JUL 3 1995

AT 2 PM CDT WEATHER RADAR AT MONTGOMERY SHOWED SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS
OVER SOUTH CENTRAL ALABAMA BETWEEN SELMA AND TUSKEGEE.   THE STRONGEST
THUNDERSTORMS WERE NEAR MONTGOMERY AND TUSKEGEE.  MOVEMENT WAS TO THE
NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

OTHER THUNDERSTORMS WERE ACROSS SOUTH ALABAMA BETWEEN GREENVILLE AND
EUFAULA ALABAMA.  THESE STORMS WERE ALSO MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

STRONG GUSTY WINDS...DANGEROUS CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING...AND
VERY HEAVY RAINFALL CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THESE STORMS.  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.

Special weather statement, Jul 3, 2:05 PM CDT, 3 hours 38 minutes before

ALZ036>038-040>050-057-058-060-065>069-032005-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MONTGOMERY AL
204 PM CDT MON JUL 3 1995

AT 2 PM CDT WEATHER RADAR AT MONTGOMERY SHOWED SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS
OVER SOUTH CENTRAL ALABAMA BETWEEN SELMA AND TUSKEGEE.   THE STRONGEST
THUNDERSTORMS WERE NEAR MONTGOMERY AND TUSKEGEE.  MOVEMENT WAS TO THE
NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

OTHER THUNDERSTORMS WERE ACROSS SOUTH ALABAMA BETWEEN GREENVILLE AND
EUFAULA ALABAMA.  THESE STORMS WERE ALSO MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

STRONG GUSTY WINDS...DANGEROUS CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING...AND
VERY HEAVY RAINFALL CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THESE STORMS.  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.

Special weather statement, Jul 3, 3:31 PM CDT, 2 hours 12 minutes before

ALZ036>038-040>050-057-058-060-065>069-032135-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MONTGOMERY AL
331 PM CDT MON JUL 3 1995

...AT 330 PM CDT THE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR MACON AND TALLAPOOSA
COUNTIES EXPIRED.

AT 330 PM CDT WEATHER RADAR AT MONTGOMERY SHOWED SCATTERED STRONG
THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS EAST CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST ALABAMA BETWEEN
ALABASTER AND EUFAULA AND A FEW MILES EAST OF TROY.  THE STRONGEST
THUNDERSTORMS WERE OVER COOSA COUNTY MOVING TOWARDS ALEX CITY...BETWEEN
LAKE MARTIN AND AUBURN AND JUST NORTHWEST OF EUFAULA ALABAMA.  MOVEMENT
WAS TO THE NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

STRONG GUSTY WINDS...DANGEROUS CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING...AND
VERY HEAVY RAINFALL CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THESE STORMS.  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.

Local storm report, Jul 3, 4:36 PM CDT, 1 hour 7 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MONTGOMERY AL
430 PM CDT MON JUL  3 1995

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

240 PM CDT NEAR TALLASSEE         AL    TREES DOWN
           ELMORE                       POWER LINES DOWN.
                                        REPORTED BY TROOPERS
                                        TSTM WARNING IN EFFECT

255 PM CDT CAMP HILL AREA         AL    TREES DOWN
           TALLAPOOSA                   REPORTED BY TROOPERS
                                        TSTM WARNING IN EFFECT

415 PM CDT TEXASVILLE AREA        AL    DIME AND LARGER HAIL
           BARBOUR                      REPORTED BY EUFAULA POLICE

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 3, 4:22 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Franklin	68 min
Jul 3, 4:52 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Jefferson, Shelby	53 min
Jul 3, 4:57 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Morgan	63 min
Jul 3, 5:36 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Limestone, Madison	69 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Alabama, 1995 Every 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.