Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1995

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 321, NWS Birmingham, AL

July 4, 1995Cherokee County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 4, 1995, 5:32 PM CDT for Cherokee County, Alabama. It was in force for 28 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Jul 4, 1995, 5:32 PM CDT (22:32 UTC)
Expired: Jul 4, 1995, 6:00 PM CDT
In force: 28 min
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL
Area: Whole counties

County Cherokee County, AL

The nearest sounding before it

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 12:00Z, 10.5 hours before the alert went out and 136 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: 207 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -66 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 696 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 103 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 147 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 1.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBHM 042234 RRA
SVRBHM
ALC019-042300-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
532 PM CDT TUE JUL 4 1995
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  600 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTH ALABAMA
 
   ...CHEROKEE COUNTY
 
AT 530 PM CDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED A CLUSTER OF SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS OVER EASTERN CHEROKEE COUNTY FROM THE ROCKRUN AREA TO NEAR
RINGGOLD. THE STORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR AND
SHOULD EXIT THE STATE DURING THE NEXT 30 MINUTES.
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAI
L...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
OF YOUR HOME 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, 4 hours 39 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, 4 hours 16 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, 3 hours 48 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, 4:37 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Tuscaloosa	53 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, 5:37 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.