Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1995

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 320, NWS Birmingham, AL

July 4, 1995Etowah County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 4, 1995, 4:41 PM CDT for Etowah County, Alabama. It was in force for 34 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 4, 1995, 4:41 PM CDT (21:41 UTC)
Expired
Jul 4, 1995, 5:15 PM CDT
In force
34 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Etowah County, AL

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 9.7 hours before the alert went out and 118 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 12:00Z on 1995-07-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1785 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 12:00Z on 1995-07-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 70 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
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

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

000 
TTAA00 KBHM 042142 RRA
SVRBHM
ALC055-042215-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
441 PM CDT TUE JUL 4 1995
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  515 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTH ALABAMA
 
   ...ETOWAH COUNTY
 
AT 440 PM...ETOWAH EMA REPORTED A WIND GUST OF 75 MPH. THIS SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM WILL MOVE NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH ACROSS NORTHERN ETOWAH
COUNTY.
 
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
OF YOUR HO2ME OR BUSINESS.  HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO
DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.
 
 
 
&

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 48 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 25 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 57 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.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 4, 2:39 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXShelby51 min
Jul 4, 3:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson43 min
Jul 4, 4:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarshall60 min
Jul 4, 4:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPickens28 min
Jul 4, 4:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTuscaloosa53 min
Jul 4, 4:58 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXTuscaloosa47 min
Jul 4, 5:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCherokee28 min
Jul 4, 5:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJackson48 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.