Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1995

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 72, NWS Birmingham, AL

March 20, 1995Franklin County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 20, 1995, 7:30 PM CST for Franklin County, Alabama. It was in force for 60 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Mar 20, 1995, 7:30 PM CST (01:30 UTC)
Expired
Mar 20, 1995, 8:30 PM CST
In force
60 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Franklin County, AL

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 1.5 hours before the alert went out and 171 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 1995-03-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 1995-03-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 119 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
2366 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
58 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
119 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
224 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 KHSV 210129 RRA
SVRHSV
ALC059-210230-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
730 PM CST MON MAR 20 1995
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HUNTSVILLE HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  830 PM CST
...
 
IN NORTH ALABAMA
 
   ...FRANKLIN COUNTY
 
AT 728 PM CST NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR AT HUNTSVILLE SHOWED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IN TISHOMINGO COUNTY MISSISSIPPI MOVING SOUTHEAST
AT AROUND 35 MILES AN HOUR.
 
THIS STORM WILL MOVE INTO FRANKLIN COUNTY ALABAMA WITHIN THE NEXT
HALF HOUR.
 
OTHER STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE OCCURING IN LAUDERDALE COUNTY ALABAMA.
 
 
 
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM.  IF YOU ARE IN ITS PATH YOU SHOULD
PREPARE FOR DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH...LARGE HAIL...AND
DEADLY LIGHTNING.  PEOPLE OUTSIDE SHOULD MOVE TO A SHELTER...
PREFERABLY INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING BUT STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

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, Mar 20, 7:18 PM CST, 12 minutes before
ALZ011>029-031>035-039-210220-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
718 PM CST MON MAR 20 1995

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IN EFFECT FOR NORTHWEST ALABAMA UNTIL
MIDNIGHT..

AT 718 PM SHOWED A BAND OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER EXTREME
NORTHWEST ALABAMA INTO NORTHERN MISSISSIPPI.  THE LEADING EDGE
EXTENDED FROM NEAR MUSCLE SHOALS SOUTHWEST TO JUST NORTH OF TUPELO.
MOVEMENT WAS TO THE SOUTHEAST AT 35 MPH.

THE STRONGEST STORMS WERE LOCATED OVER NORTHEAST MISSISSIPPI.  THESE
THUNDERSTORMS WILL PRODUCE BREIF HEAVY RAIN...STRONG GUSTY WINDS...
DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...AND POSSIBLY HAIL.
Special weather statement, Mar 20, 7:18 PM CST, 12 minutes before
ALZ011>029-031>035-039-210220-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...CORRECTION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
718 PM CST MON MAR 20 1995

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IN EFFECT FOR NORTHWEST ALABAMA UNTIL
MIDNIGHT..

AT 718 PM WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A BAND OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER
EXTREME NORTHWEST ALABAMA INTO NORTHERN MISSISSIPPI.  THE LEADING EDGE
EXTENDED FROM NEAR MUSCLE SHOALS SOUTHWEST TO JUST NORTH OF TUPELO.
MOVEMENT WAS TO THE SOUTHEAST AT 35 MPH.

THE STRONGEST STORMS WERE LOCATED OVER NORTHEAST MISSISSIPPI.  THESE
THUNDERSTORMS WILL PRODUCE BREIF HEAVY RAIN...STRONG GUSTY WINDS...
DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...AND POSSIBLY HAIL.
Special weather statement, Mar 20, 7:19 PM CST, 11 minutes before
ALZ011>029-031>035-039-210220-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...CORRECTION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
718 PM CST MON MAR 20 1995

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IN EFFECT FOR NORTHWEST ALABAMA UNTIL
MIDNIGHT..

AT 718 PM WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A BAND OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER
EXTREME NORTHWEST ALABAMA INTO NORTHERN MISSISSIPPI.  THE LEADING EDGE
EXTENDED FROM NEAR MUSCLE SHOALS SOUTHWEST TO JUST NORTH OF TUPELO.
MOVEMENT WAS TO THE SOUTHEAST AT 35 MPH.

THE STRONGEST STORMS WERE LOCATED OVER NORTHEAST MISSISSIPPI.  THESE
THUNDERSTORMS WILL PRODUCE BREIF HEAVY RAIN...STRONG GUSTY WINDS...
DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...AND POSSIBLY HAIL.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 20, 7:40 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLimestone55 min
Mar 20, 8:20 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMadison55 min
Mar 20, 8:28 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarion32 min
Mar 20, 8:34 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXWinston41 min
Mar 20, 8:50 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMorgan55 min
Mar 20, 9:03 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJackson32 min
Mar 20, 9:03 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarshall57 min
Mar 20, 9:13 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCullman47 min
Mar 20, 9:17 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXDeKalb48 min
Mar 20, 9:21 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFayette, Marion, Walker69 min
Mar 20, 9:45 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCherokee60 min
Mar 20, 9:51 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSt. Clair54 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.