Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1995

Tornado Warning 59, NWS Birmingham, AL

May 18, 1995Sumter County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at May 18, 1995, 5:54 PM CDT for Sumter County, Alabama. It was in force for 51 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 18, 1995, 5:54 PM CDT (22:54 UTC)
Expired
May 18, 1995, 6:45 PM CDT
In force
51 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Sumter County, AL

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 10.9 hours before the alert went out and 148 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 KBHM 182255
TORBHM
ALC119-182345-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
554 PM CDT THU MAY 18 1995
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  645 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA
 
   ...SUMTER COUNTY
 
AT 553 PM CDT...WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
WITH A POSSIBLE TORNADO ENTERING EXTREME WESTERN SUMTER COUNTY. A
TORNADO WAS REPORTED ON THE GROUND IN THE NORTHWEST PART OF MERIDIAN IN
ASSOCIATION WITH THIS STORM.
 
THE STORM WAS MOVING EAST-NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH...AND WILL MOVE ACROSS
THE YORK AND LIVINGSTON AREAS DURING THE NEXT 45 MINUTES.
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY 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.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 18, 3:41 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXColbert64 min
May 18, 3:41 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXFranklin39 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, 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.