Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1995

Tornado Warning 38, NWS Birmingham, AL

April 22, 1995Calhoun County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Apr 22, 1995, 9:12 AM CDT for Calhoun County, Alabama. It was in force for 38 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Apr 22, 1995, 9:12 AM CDT (14:12 UTC)
Expired: Apr 22, 1995, 9:50 AM CDT
In force: 38 min
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL
Area: Whole counties

County Calhoun County, AL

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 2.2 hours before the alert went out and 110 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 1475 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -17 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 518 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 113 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 127 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.9
Supercell composite: 5.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBHM 221412
TORBHM
ALC015-221500-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
912 AM CDT SAT APR 22 1995
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1000 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN EAST CENTRAL ALABAMA
 
   ...CALHOUN COUNTY
 
AT 909 AM CDT DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH A
TORNADO IN WESTERN CALHOUN COUNTY NEAR THE CITY OF OHATCHEE. THE STORM
WAS MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH AND WILL AFFECT THE CITIES OF DUKE...
JACKSONVILLE AND PEIDMONT.
 
THIS WARNING REPLACES THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING ISSUED EARLIER.
 
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION.  ACT QUICKLY.  IF YOU ARE
IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF
AVAILABLE.  OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR POSSIBLE.  AVOID WINDOWS.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES
FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING.  AS A LAST RESORT...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

Local storm report, Apr 22, 8:13 AM CDT, 59 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
0812 AM CDT SAT APR 22 1995

TIME(CDT)      .....CITY LOCATION.....  STATE      ...EVENT/REMARKS...
               ....COUNTY LOCATION....

 0750 AM       SUMMITON                 AL         TORNADO REPORTED BY EMA.
 04/22/95      WALKER                              PEOPLE REPORTED TRAPPED IN
                                                   CARS AND MOBILE HOMES.

Local storm report, Apr 22, 8:43 AM CDT, 29 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
0840 PM CDT SUN APR 19 1995

TIME(CDT)      .....CITY LOCATION.....  STATE      ...EVENT/REMARKS...
               ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0812 AM       WARRIOR                  AL         3/4 INCH HAIL COVERING
04/22/95      JEFFERSON                           GROUND.  REPORTED BY
                                                  CHANNEL 6 TV IN BIRMINGHAM.

0814 AM       NORTHERN GARDENDALE      AL         TREES TWO FEET IN DIAMETER
04/22/95      JEFFERSON                           DOWN.  REPORTED BY SKYWARN
                                                  HAMS.

0830 AM       LOCUST FORK              AL         0TREES DOWN.  REPORT
04/22/95      BLOUNT                              FROM EMA.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 22, 6:31 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Lamar	34 min
Apr 22, 6:41 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Fayette, Marion	49 min
Apr 22, 6:51 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Morgan	44 min
Apr 22, 7:08 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Walker	52 min
Apr 22, 7:21 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Marshall	69 min
Apr 22, 7:26 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Lamar	34 min
Apr 22, 7:37 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Walker	53 min
Apr 22, 7:45 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Cullman	45 min
Apr 22, 7:49 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Blount, Jefferson	41 min
Apr 22, 8:02 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	DeKalb	58 min
Apr 22, 8:23 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	St. Clair	52 min
Apr 22, 8:26 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Tuscaloosa	34 min
Apr 22, 8:30 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Blount	30 min
Apr 22, 8:34 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Jefferson	56 min
Apr 22, 8:46 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Etowah	44 min
Apr 22, 8:55 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Clay, Cleburne	50 min
Apr 22, 8:55 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Calhoun	50 min
Apr 22, 9:01 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Cherokee	44 min
Apr 22, 9:25 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Randolph	50 min
Apr 22, 9:45 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Cleburne	15 min
Apr 22, 9:50 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Chilton	40 min
Apr 22, 9:56 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Cherokee, Cleburne	19 min
Apr 22, 10:04 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Clay	56 min
Apr 22, 10:12 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Randolph	48 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Alabama, 1995 Every tornado warning in 1995 Tornadoes 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.