Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1995

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 319, NWS Birmingham, AL

July 4, 1995Tuscaloosa County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 4, 1995, 4:37 PM CDT for Tuscaloosa County, Alabama. It was in force for 53 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: Jul 4, 1995, 4:37 PM CDT (21:37 UTC)
Expired: Jul 4, 1995, 5:30 PM CDT
In force: 53 min
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL
Area: Whole counties

County Tuscaloosa County, AL

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Jul 4, 4:55 PM CDT	Tornado F0	Tuscaloosa, AL	A tornado was reported by the Tuscaloosa Fire Department in the Elrod/Echola area of Tuscaloosa. One tree was blown down. Tuscaloosa County Sheriff's Department reported a funnel cloud in the Brownville area about 15 miles northwest of Tuscaloosa.

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in. Storm Data before 1996 records only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail.

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 9.6 hours before the alert went out and 70 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: 1785 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 522 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 70 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 116 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.4
Supercell composite: 2.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

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 4, 12:53 PM CDT, 3 hours 44 minutes before

ALZ040-042-041855-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MONTGOMERY AL
1253 PM CDT TUE JUL 4 1995

AT 1245 PM CDT THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR WAS INDICATING
NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS POPPING UP ACROSS CENTRAL AND SOUTH ALABAMA. THE
STRONGEST OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE EXITING WILCOX COUNTY. THESE
STORMS ARE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 20 MILES PER HOUR AND
WILL BE APPROACHING DALLAS AND LOWNDES COUNTIES SHORTLY.

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.

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 4, 1:16 PM CDT, 3 hours 21 minutes before

ALZ047-041920-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MONTGOMERY AL
116 PM CDT TUE JUL 4 1995

AT 110 PM CDT THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR WAS INDICATING A
CLUSTER OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER EASTERN AND CENTRAL PORTIONS OF
LEE COUNTY. THESE STORMS SHOULD EXIT ALABAMA AND MOVE INTO HARRIS
COUNTY GEORGIA WITHIN THE NEXT 30 MINUTES

STRONG GUSTY WIND...DANGEROUS CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING...VERY
HEAVY RAINFALL AND POSSIBLY SOME SMALL HAIL CAN BE EXPECTED WITH
THESE STORMS.

Special weather statement, Jul 4, 1:44 PM CDT, 2 hours 53 minutes before

ALZ041-041945-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MONTGOMERY AL
144 PM CDT TUE JUL 4 1995

AT 1340 PM CDT THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR WAS INDICATING THE
STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS IN CENTRAL ALABAMA WERE OVER CENTRAL AUTAUGA
COUNTY. THESE STORMS ARE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 25 MILES PER HOUR.

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.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 4, 2:39 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Shelby	51 min
Jul 4, 3:02 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Jefferson	43 min
Jul 4, 4:30 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Marshall	60 min
Jul 4, 4:37 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Pickens	28 min
Jul 4, 4:41 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Etowah	34 min
Jul 4, 4:58 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Tuscaloosa	47 min
Jul 4, 5:32 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Cherokee	28 min
Jul 4, 5:37 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Jackson	48 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.