Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1995

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 413, NWS Birmingham, AL

August 8, 1995Marion County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 8, 1995, 3:12 PM CDT for Marion County, Alabama. It was in force for 63 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 8, 1995, 3:12 PM CDT (20:12 UTC)
Expired
Aug 8, 1995, 4:15 PM CDT
In force
63 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Marion County, AL

The radar

The Columbus AFB radar (KGWX), 49 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:14 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, 8.2 hours before the alert went out and 148 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 1995-08-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1401 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 1995-08-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 49 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
1401 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-20 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
650 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
5 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
49 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
42 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 082015 RRA
SVRBHM
ALC093-082115-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
312 PM CDT TUE AUG 8 1995
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  415 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTH ALABAMA
 
   ...MARION COUNTY
 
AT 312 PM...A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER FRANKLIN COUNTY WILL BE
MOVING INTO NORTHERN MARION COUNTY BY 320 PM...AND INTO SOUTHERN MARION
COUNTY BY 340 PM. THIS LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS HAS A HISTORY OF PRODUCING
WIND DAMAGE.
 
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 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, Aug 8, 1:28 PM CDT, 1 hour 44 minutes before
ALZ036>038-040>050-057-058-060-065>069-082030-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MONTGOMERY AL
128 PM CDT TUE AUG 8 1995

AT 1:20 PM CDT THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR IN MONTGOMERY
INDICATED RAINSHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING IN SOUTH CENTRAL
ALABAMA. THE STRONGEST OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED IN
AUTAUGA...ELMORE...BUTLER...MONTGOMERY...MACON..AND LOWNDES
COUNTIES.  THIS AREA OF RAINSHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TO
THE SOUTH AT 15-20 MILES PER HOUR.

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
Aug 8, 2:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLauderdale62 min
Aug 8, 2:25 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXColbert65 min
Aug 8, 2:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLimestone69 min
Aug 8, 3:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXWinston59 min
Aug 8, 3:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMorgan56 min
Aug 8, 3:22 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSt. Clair53 min
Aug 8, 3:24 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTalladega66 min
Aug 8, 3:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXShelby68 min
Aug 8, 3:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCullman62 min
Aug 8, 3:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarshall61 min
Aug 8, 4:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBlount44 min
Aug 8, 4:38 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson67 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.