Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1995

Tornado Warning 65, NWS Birmingham, AL

July 4, 1995Lamar County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Jul 4, 1995, 8:38 PM CDT for Lamar County, Alabama. It was in force for 52 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: Jul 4, 1995, 8:38 PM CDT (01:38 UTC)
Expired: Jul 4, 1995, 9:30 PM CDT
In force: 52 min
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL
Area: Whole counties

County Lamar County, AL

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Jul 4, 9:12 PM CDT	Tornado F0	Detroit, AL	A tornado was reported at Henson Springs in northern Lamar County. The tornado occurred in the open with no damage reported.

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

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 1.6 hours before the alert went out and 139 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: 2359 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -24 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 909 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 43 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 136 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 174 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 1.9
Supercell composite: 9.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBHM 050139
TORBHM
ALC075-050230-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
838 PM CDT TUE JUL 4 1995
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  930 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA
 
   ...LAMAR COUNTY
 
AT 838 PM CDT A TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY RADAR ABOUT 7 MILES SOUTHWEST
OF SULLIGENT AND WAS MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH.
 
 
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..v.
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jul 4, 8:20 PM CDT, 18 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
820 PM CDT TUE JUL 4 1995

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

435 PM     GADSDEN                   AL   GADSDEN/ETOWAH EMA
7/4/95     ETOWAH                         REPORTED A WIND GUST TO
                                          75 MPH.

430 PM     BLOUNT COUNTY             AL   TREES/POWER LINES BLOWN
7/4/95                                    DOWN HWY 132 BETWEEN ONEONTA
                                          AND ALTOONA.

415-435PM  BLOUNT COUNTY             AL   BOATHOUSE COLLAPSED ON A
7/4/95                                    HOUSEBOAT.  SAINT CLAIR EMA
                                          REPORTED 3 FATALITIES AND
                                          2 CRITICAL INJURIES.
                                                                       .
455 PM     TUSCALOOSA COUNTY         AL   TORNADO REPORTED NEAR THE
7/4/95                                    ELROD/ECHOLA AREAS.
                                          REPORTED BY FIRE DEPT TO
                                          TUSCALOOSA EMA.  ONE TREE
                                          REPORTED BLOWN DOWN.

520 PM     TUSCALOOSA COUNTY         AL   FUNNEL CLOUD OBSERVED BY
7/4/95                                    SHERIFF DEPUTY ON AL HWY
                                          65 IN BROWNSVILLE AREA.

435 PM     ETOWAH COUNTY             AL   ROOF BLOWN OFF BUILDING
7/4/95                                    IN GADSDEN.  NUMEROUS TREES
                                          BLOWN DOWN ON COUNTY.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 4, 9:01 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Marion	44 min
Jul 4, 9:18 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Winston	42 min
Jul 4, 9:25 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Franklin	38 min
Jul 4, 9:25 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Lawrence	65 min
Jul 4, 9:55 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Winston	35 min
Jul 4, 10:18 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Limestone, Morgan	57 min
Jul 4, 10:32 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Lawrence	32 min
Jul 5, 5:47 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Fayette	28 min
Jul 5, 5:51 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Fayette	31 min
Jul 5, 6:03 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Walker	42 min
Jul 5, 6:41 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Winston	33 min
Jul 5, 6:41 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Cullman	49 min
Jul 5, 6:49 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Walker	25 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.