Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1995

Tornado Warning 88, NWS Birmingham, AL

October 4, 1995St. Clair County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Oct 4, 1995, 11:21 PM CDT for St. Clair County, Alabama. It was in force for 24 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Oct 4, 1995, 11:21 PM CDT (04:21 UTC)
Expired
Oct 4, 1995, 11:45 PM CDT
In force
24 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County St. Clair County, AL

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 74 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:25 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

The nearest sounding before it

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 00:00Z, 4.4 hours before the alert went out and 270 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 00:00Z on 1995-10-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Nashville Metro, TN at 00:00Z on 1995-10-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -46 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
562 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
6 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-46 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-88 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBHM 050423
TORBHM
ALC115-050500-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
1121 PM CDT WED OCT 4 1995
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL MIDNIGHT CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN CENTRAL ALABAMA
 
   ...ST. CLAIR COUNTY
 
AT 1119 PM...THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS RECEIVED A REPORT OF A
TORNADO IN THE PELL CITY AREA...WITH DAMAGE REPORTED IN THE PAST FEW
MINUTES. THIS TORNADO WILL BE MOVING NORTH AT 30 MPH...AND MAY AFFECT
COMMUNITIES NORTH OF PELL CITY DURING THE NEXT 30 MINUTES.
REMEMBER...HURRICANES CAN SPAWN BRIEF TORNADOES AT ANY TIME!
 
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION.  ACT QUICKLY.  IF YOU ARE
IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF
AVAILABLE.  OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR POSSIBLE.  AVOID WINDOWS.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES
FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.

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

Special weather statement, Oct 4, 10:13 PM CDT, 1 hour 8 minutes before
ALZ023-032>035-039>042-050715-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
1013 PM CDT WED OCT 4 1995

THE TORNADO WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES
IN CENTRAL ALABAMA...

TUSCALOOSA...HALE...BIB...CHILTON...PERRY...AUTAUGA...DALLAS...MARENGO..

AND LOWNDES.

EVEN THOUGH THE TORNADO WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFEC...CONTINUE THE

HIGH WIND WARNING AND FLASH FLOOD WATCH CONTINUES IN THE AREA.
Special weather statement, Oct 4, 10:14 PM CDT, 1 hour 7 minutes before
ALZ023-032>035-039>042-050715-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
1013 PM CDT WED OCT 4 1995

THE TORNADO WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES
IN CENTRAL ALABAMA...

TUSCALOOSA...HALE...BIB...CHILTON...PERRY...AUTAUGA...DALLAS...MARENGO..

AND LOWNDES.

EVEN THOUGH THE TORNADO WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFEC...CONTINUE THE

HIGH WIND WARNING AND FLASH FLOOD WATCH CONTINUES IN THE AREA.
Special weather statement, Oct 4, 10:15 PM CDT, 1 hour 6 minutes before
ALZ023-032>035-039>042-050715-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
1013 PM CDT WED OCT 4 1995

THE TORNADO WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES
IN CENTRAL ALABAMA...

TUSCALOOSA...HALE...BIB...CHILTON...PERRY...AUTAUGA...DALLAS...MARENGO..

AND LOWNDES.

EVEN THOUGH THE TORNADO WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFEC...THE

HIGH WIND WARNING AND FLASH FLOOD WATCH CONTINUES IN THE AREA.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 4, 8:33 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXPike42 min
Oct 4, 8:58 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXBullock47 min
Oct 4, 9:43 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXMacon47 min
Oct 4, 9:56 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXMontgomery64 min
Oct 4, 10:26 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXElmore49 min
Oct 5, 12:17 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXCherokee, Etowah3 hr
Oct 5, 12:31 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXDeKalb, Jackson, Marshall4 hr

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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.