Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1995

Tornado Warning 52, NWS Birmingham, AL

May 18, 1995Franklin County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at May 18, 1995, 3:41 PM CDT for Franklin County, Alabama. It was in force for 39 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 18, 1995, 3:41 PM CDT (20:41 UTC)
Expired
May 18, 1995, 4:20 PM CDT
In force
39 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Franklin County, AL

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 8.7 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 12:00Z on 1995-05-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 275 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 1995-05-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 115 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
275 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-164 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
738 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
115 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
139 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KHSV 182041
TORHSV
ALC033-059-182145-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
341 PM CDT THU MAY 18 1995
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HUNTSVILLE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  445 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONSS...
 
IN NORTH ALABAMA
 
   ...COLBERT COUNTY...FRANKLIN COUNTY
 
AT 340 PM CDT RADAR AT HUNTSVILLE SHOWED THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLY
CONTAINING TORNADOS MOVING INTO SOUTHWEST COLBERT AND NORTHWEST
FRANKLIN COUNTIES OF ALABAMA.
 
MOVEMENT WAS EASTWARD AT AROUND 40 MILES AN HOUR.
 
 
 
 
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.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 18, 3:41 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXColbert64 min
May 18, 4:15 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXLauderdale60 min
May 18, 4:41 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXColbert64 min
May 18, 5:10 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXLauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone65 min
May 18, 5:23 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXLimestone47 min
May 18, 5:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSumter43 min
May 18, 5:42 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXMadison63 min
May 18, 5:50 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXFranklin55 min
May 18, 5:54 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXSumter51 min
May 18, 6:09 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXGreene, Marengo66 min
May 18, 6:26 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXColbert, Franklin, Lauderdale64 min
May 18, 6:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXHale69 min
May 18, 6:48 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXLawrence57 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.