Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1995
Tornado Warning 17, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Apr 20, 1995, 7:38 PM CDT for Lamar County, Alabama. It was in force for 52 min.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- Apr 20, 1995, 7:38 PM CDT (00:38 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 20, 1995, 8:30 PM CDT
- In force
- 52 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Lamar County, AL
The nearest sounding before it
Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 0.6 hours before the alert went out and 139 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1059 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -20 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 943 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 45 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 175 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 177 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 1.1
- Supercell composite
- 4.9
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KBHM 210039 TORBHM ALC075-107-210130- BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 738 PM CDT THU APR 20 1995 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 830 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... IN WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA ...LAMAR COUNTY...NORTHERN PICKENS COUNTY AT 736 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR DETECTED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM NEARING THE ALABAMA/MISSISSIPPI BORDER WEST OF STAFFORD IN PICKENS COUNTY. SPOTTERS IN MISSISSIPPI HAVE REPORTED A TORNADO ASSOCIATED WITH THIS STORM IN LOWNDES COUNTY. THE STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MILES AN HOUR AND WILL MOVE ACROSS NORTHWEST PICKENS AND INTO LAMAR COUNTY DURING THE NEXT 10 TO 15 MINUTES. COMMUNITIES IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM FERNBANK AND MILLPORT IN LAMAR AND STAFFORD IN PICKENS COUNTY. IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED BUILDING. AS A LAST RESlORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH OR LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this tornado 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, Apr 20, 5:57 PM CDT, 1 hour 41 minutes before
ALZ036>038-040>043-210100- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MONTGOMERY AL 557 PM CDT THU APR 20 1995 ....TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT TILL 1100 CDT.... AT 545 PM CDT THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR IN MONTGOMERY INDICATED A THUNDERSTORM EMBEDDED WITHIN A AREA OF RAINSHOWERS 25 MILES WEST OF MONTGOMERY MOVING TO THE NORTH AT 25 TO 30 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. REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 20, 7:38 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Pickens | 16 min |
| Apr 20, 7:53 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Franklin | 67 min |
| Apr 20, 8:05 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Fayette, Marion | 55 min |
| Apr 20, 8:20 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Colbert, Lawrence | 55 min |
| Apr 20, 8:26 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Colbert, Lawrence | 64 min |
| Apr 20, 8:28 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Lamar | 32 min |
| Apr 20, 8:39 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Lauderdale | 56 min |
| Apr 20, 8:51 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Franklin | 44 min |
| Apr 20, 8:53 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Winston | 67 min |
| Apr 20, 8:57 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Lamar | 33 min |
| Apr 20, 8:58 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Marion | 32 min |
| Apr 20, 9:09 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Pickens | 66 min |
| Apr 20, 9:11 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Fayette | 64 min |
| Apr 20, 9:21 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Lawrence | 69 min |
| Apr 20, 9:41 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Limestone | 64 min |
| Apr 20, 9:47 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Greene, Sumter | 58 min |
| Apr 20, 9:52 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Morgan | 68 min |
| Apr 20, 9:58 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Cullman, Walker, Winston | 62 min |
| Apr 20, 9:58 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Tuscaloosa | 62 min |
| Apr 20, 10:14 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Fayette | 46 min |
| Apr 20, 10:18 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Pickens | 42 min |
| Apr 20, 10:57 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Tuscaloosa, Walker | 31 min |
| Apr 20, 10:57 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Cullman | 63 min |
| Apr 20, 10:58 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Morgan | 17 min |
| Apr 20, 11:05 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Hale | 55 min |
| Apr 20, 11:12 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Bibb, Jefferson | 63 min |
| Apr 20, 11:17 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Shelby | 58 min |
| Apr 20, 11:19 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Blount | 56 min |
| Apr 20, 11:50 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | St. Clair | 55 min |
| Apr 21, 12:05 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Chilton | 55 min |
| Apr 21, 12:05 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Etowah | 55 min |
| Apr 21, 12:12 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Marengo, Perry | 63 min |
| Apr 21, 12:18 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Calhoun, Talladega | 57 min |
| Apr 21, 12:37 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | DeKalb, Jackson | 68 min |
| Apr 21, 12:39 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Cherokee | 45 min |
| Apr 21, 1:50 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Chilton | 40 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Alabama, 1995Every tornado warning in 1995Tornadoes 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.