Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1995

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 405, NWS Birmingham, AL

July 29, 1995Jefferson County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 29, 1995, 7:46 PM CDT for Jefferson County, Alabama. It was in force for 29 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 29, 1995, 7:46 PM CDT (00:46 UTC)
Expired
Jul 29, 1995, 8:15 PM CDT
In force
29 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Jefferson County, AL

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 44 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:47 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 00:00Z, 0.8 hours before the alert went out and 43 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 1995-07-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 951 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 1995-07-30The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 28 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
951 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-23 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1711 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
15 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
28 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
38 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBHM 300046 RRA
SVRBHM
ALC073-300115-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
746 PM CDT SAT JUL 29 1995
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  815 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN CENTRAL ALABAMA
 
   ...JEFFERSON COUNTY
 
AT 745 PM...WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER
NORTHWEST JEFFERSON COUNTY NEAR GRAYSVILLE AND BROOKSIDE. THIS STORM WAS
MOVING NORTHWEST AT 20 MILES AN HOUR.
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER FROM THE WEATHER IN A
STRONG BUILDING.  DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN...
AND DEADLY LIGHTNING ARE ALL P"OSSIBLE IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.
STAY INSIDE AWAY FROM WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.

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 29, 5:31 PM CDT, 2 hours 15 minutes before
ALZ050-066-067-069-300035-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MONTGOMERY AL
531 PM CDT SAT JUL 29 1995

AT 525 PM CDT THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED AN AREA OF
RAINSHOWERS WITH ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO THE SOUTHEASTERN
COUNTIES OF ALABAMA.  THE AREA IS MOVING TO THE WEST AT 15 MILES PER
HOUR.

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

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.
Special weather statement, Jul 29, 6:21 PM CDT, 1 hour 25 minutes before
ALZ036-038-045>048-050-065>069-300025-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MONTGOMERY AL
621 PM CDT SAT JUL 29 1995

AT 615 PM CDT THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF
RAINSHOWERS WITH ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS MOVING FROM THE EAST ACROSS
EASTCENTRAL THROUGH SOUTHEASTERN ALABAMA.  THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS
WERE LOCATED IN CHAMBERS COUNTY NORTHWEST OF LAFAYETTE AND FROM JUST
WEST OF OUISVILLE IN BARBOUR COUNTY TO SOUTHWESTERN COFFEE COUNTY.
THESE THUNDERSTORMS AND RAINSHOWERS WERE MOVING TO THE WEST AT 20 MILES
PER HOUR.

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

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.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 29, 8:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSt. Clair50 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.