Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1995

Tornado Warning 49, NWS Birmingham, AL

May 15, 1995St. Clair County, Shelby County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at May 15, 1995, 2:24 PM CDT for St. Clair County, Shelby County, Alabama. It was in force for 51 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 15, 1995, 2:24 PM CDT (19:24 UTC)
Expired
May 15, 1995, 3:15 PM CDT
In force
51 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

Counties Shelby County, AL, St. Clair County, AL

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 44 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:24 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, 7.4 hours before the alert went out and 44 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 1995-05-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2319 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 1995-05-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 140 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
2319 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-60 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
745 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
140 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
146 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.0
Supercell composite
6.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBHM 151925
TORBHM
ALC117-115-152015-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
224 PM CDT MON MAY 15 1995
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  315 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN CENTRAL ALABAMA
 
   ...SHELBY COUNTY...ST. CLAIR COUNTY
 
AT 223 PM RADAR INDICATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND POSSIBLE TORNADOES
MOVING FROM JEFFERSON COUNTY TOWARD ST CLAIR AND SHELBY COUNTIES.
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THESE STORMS...TAKE COVER NOW.
 
THIS WARNING UPGRADES THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR THESE TWO
COUNTIES.
 
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.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 15, 12:04 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLawrence56 min
May 15, 12:21 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFranklin69 min
May 15, 12:21 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMorgan69 min
May 15, 12:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarion60 min
May 15, 12:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCullman59 min
May 15, 12:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLawrence65 min
May 15, 12:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLamar61 min
May 15, 1:08 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXWinston52 min
May 15, 1:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBlount58 min
May 15, 1:38 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXWalker67 min
May 15, 1:40 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXBlount50 min
May 15, 1:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCullman61 min
May 15, 1:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPickens58 min
May 15, 1:55 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXCullman, Jefferson, Walker65 min
May 15, 2:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXEtowah58 min
May 15, 2:09 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSt. Clair66 min
May 15, 2:10 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXJefferson50 min
May 15, 2:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTuscaloosa60 min
May 15, 2:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCalhoun, Shelby, Talladega56 min
May 15, 2:44 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXCalhoun61 min
May 15, 2:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBibb52 min
May 15, 2:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXGreene50 min
May 15, 3:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCleburne58 min
May 15, 3:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXClay68 min
May 15, 3:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPerry46 min
May 15, 3:21 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXRandolph69 min
May 15, 3:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXChilton59 min
May 15, 6:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSumter63 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.