Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1995

Tornado Warning 63, NWS Birmingham, AL

May 18, 1995Sumter County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at May 18, 1995, 9:27 PM CDT for Sumter County, Alabama. It was in force for 33 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 18, 1995, 9:27 PM CDT (02:27 UTC)
Expired
May 18, 1995, 10:00 PM CDT
In force
33 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Sumter County, AL

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 2.5 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 00:00Z on 1995-05-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2545 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 00:00Z on 1995-05-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 234 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
2545 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-14 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
873 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
234 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
233 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
4.1
Supercell composite
17.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBHM 190228
TORBHM
ALC119-190315-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
927 PM CDT THU MAY 18 1995
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1015 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA
 
   ...SOUTHERN SUMTER COUNTY
 
AT 924 PM WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM POSSIBLY
PRODUCING A TORNADO JUST ENTERING SOUTHWEST SUMTER COUNTY. THIS STORM
WAS MOVING EAST-NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH. A POSSIBLE TORNADO WAS REPORTED
BY OFFICIALS IN LAUDERDALE COUNTY MISSISSIPPI AS THE
THUNDERSTORMS MOVED THROUGH.
 
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, 7:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPerry44 min
May 18, 7:28 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXLauderdale62 min
May 18, 8:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLimestone, Morgan57 min
May 18, 8:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLawrence51 min
May 18, 8:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXChilton29 min
May 18, 9:08 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSumter52 min
May 18, 9:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFranklin58 min
May 18, 10:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMadison, Morgan61 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.