Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1995

Tornado Warning 56, NWS Birmingham, AL

May 18, 1995Limestone County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at May 18, 1995, 5:23 PM CDT for Limestone County, Alabama. It was in force for 47 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: May 18, 1995, 5:23 PM CDT (22:23 UTC)
Expired: May 18, 1995, 6:10 PM CDT
In force: 47 min
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL
Area: Whole counties

County Limestone County, AL

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 18, 5:33 PM CDT	Tornado F4	Limestone, AL	A supercell thunderstorm produced a violent tornado that began 3 miles northwest of Athens in Limestone County and moved on a path just slightly north of east completely across Madison County before ending in northwestern Jackson County about 15 miles northwes

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in. Storm Data before 1996 records only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail.

The nearest sounding before it

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 12:00Z, 10.4 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-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: 1151 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -3 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 674 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 59 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 178 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 189 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 1.3
Supercell composite: 4.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KHSV 182223
TORHSV
ALC083-182330-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
523 PM CDT THU MAY 18 1995
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HUNTSVILLE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  630 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN NORTH ALABAMA
 
   ...NORTHERN LIMESTONE COUNTY
 
AT 522 PM CDT RADAR AT THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN HUNTSVILLE
INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH A POSSIBLE TORNADO WEST OF CAIRO IN
LIMESTONE COUNTY IN NORTH ALABAMA.
 
THIS STORM IS NOW MOVING EAST AT AROUND 40 MILES PER HOUR.
 
 
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURD&Y FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 18, 3:41 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Colbert	64 min
May 18, 3:41 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Franklin	39 min
May 18, 4:15 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Lauderdale	60 min
May 18, 4:41 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Colbert	64 min
May 18, 5:10 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone	65 min
May 18, 5:32 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Sumter	43 min
May 18, 5:42 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Madison	63 min
May 18, 5:50 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Franklin	55 min
May 18, 5:54 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Sumter	51 min
May 18, 6:09 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Greene, Marengo	66 min
May 18, 6:26 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Colbert, Franklin, Lauderdale	64 min
May 18, 6:36 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Hale	69 min
May 18, 6:48 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Lawrence	57 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.