Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1995

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 73, NWS Birmingham, AL

March 20, 1995Limestone County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 20, 1995, 7:40 PM CST for Limestone County, Alabama. It was in force for 55 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Mar 20, 1995, 7:40 PM CST (01:40 UTC)
Expired
Mar 20, 1995, 8:35 PM CST
In force
55 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Limestone County, AL

The nearest sounding before it

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 00:00Z, 1.7 hours before the alert went out and 151 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 00:00Z on 1995-03-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 541 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 00:00Z on 1995-03-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 135 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
541 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-29 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
884 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
70 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
135 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
154 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.5
Supercell composite
2.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KHSV 210139 RRA
SVRHSV
ALC083-210245-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
740 PM CST MON MAR 20 1995
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HUNTSVILLE HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  845 PM CST
...
 
IN NORTH ALABAMA
 
   ...LIMESTONE COUNTY
 
AT 738 PM CST NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM MOVING INTO LIMESTONE COUNTY ALABAMA.
 
THE THUNDERSTORM  PRODUCED LARGE HAIL IN LAUDERDALE COUNTY EARLIER.
 
MOVEMENT WAS EAST SOUTHEAST AT 35 TO 40 MILES AN HOUR.
 
 
 
 
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, Mar 20, 7:18 PM CST, 22 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, 22 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, 21 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, 7:30 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFranklin60 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.