Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 2, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jan 18, 1996, 11:02 AM CST for Franklin County, Alabama. It was in force for 58 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- Jan 18, 1996, 11:02 AM CST (17:02 UTC)
- Expired
- Jan 18, 1996, 12:00 PM CST
- In force
- 58 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Franklin County, AL
The nearest sounding before it
Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 5.0 hours before the alert went out and 171 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 790 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 49 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 393 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 482 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KHSV 181703 RRA SVRHSV ALC033-059-077-181800- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL 1102 AM CST THU JAN 18 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HUNTSVILLE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL NOON CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONSS... IN NORTH ALABAMA ...COLBERT COUNTY...FRANKLIN COUNTY...LAUDERDALE COUNTY AT 1058 THIS MORNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR AT HUNTSVILLE INDICATED A LINE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS MOVING TOWARDS NORTHWEST ALABAMA. DAMAGING WINDS ARE POSSIBLE AS THE LINE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS MOVES INTO LAUDERDALE...COLBERT... AND FRANKLIN COUNTIES OF NORTHWEST ALABAMA BETWEEN 1100 AM AND 1130 AM. THE LINE WAS MOVING EAST AT 25 TO 30 MILES AN HOUR. INDIVIDUAL THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT AROUND 50 MILES AN HOUR. IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER FROM THE WEATHER IN A STRONG BUILDING. DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN... AND DEADLY LIGHTNING ARE ALL POSSIBLE IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. STAY INSIDE AWAY FROM WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm 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, Jan 18, 5:05 AM CST, 5 hours 57 minutes before
ALZ001>069-GAZ089-090-102-120-FLZ001>015-181700- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 500 AM CST (400 AM EST) THU JAN 18 1996 ...DRASTIC WEATHER CHANGES AHEAD FOR ALABAMA...NORTHWEST FLORIDA...AND WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA DURING THE NEXT 36 HOURS.... A STORM SYSTEM THAT HAS BEEN DEVELOPING IN THE CENTRAL PLAINS WILL MOVE ACROSS THE MIDDLE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY TODAY WILL BRING RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS TO ALABAMA...NORTHWEST FLORIDA AND WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA. THE FIRST CHANGES HAVE ALREADY OCCURRED ACROSS ALABAMA OVERNIGHT AS BRISK SOUTHERLY WINDS OF 15 TO 25 MPH CONTINUED MUCH OF THE NIGHT. HOWEVER THE WINDS WILL INCREASE EVEN MORE TODAY AND WILL LIKELY REACH 20 TO 30 MPH BY AFTERNOON OVER MUCH OF THE AREA. SOME AREAS IN THE TENNESSEE VALLEY MAY SEE EVEN HIGHER WINDS OF 25 TO 35 MPH. A LAKE WIND ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT ALABAMA AND WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA TODAY. THE NEXT WEATHER PROBLEM WILL BE THE THREAT OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. DURING THE AFTERNOON A STRONG COLD FRONT ASSOCIATED WITH THIS STORM SYSTEM WILL MOVE INTO WESTERN ALABAMA. GIVEN THE ALREADY STRONG SOUTHERLY WINDS AHEAD OF THIS FRONT...THUNDERSTORMS ARE LIKELY THIS AFTERNOON BEGINNING IN WESTERN ALABAMA THIS AFTERNOON AND EAST ALABAMA AND MUCH OF NORTHWEST FLORIDA THIS EVENING. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN PRODUCE DAMAGING WINDS AND POSSIBLE TORNADOS. THE GREATEST RISK FOR SEVERE WEATHER REMAINS OVER SOUTH ALABAMA THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING. THE LAST WEATHER PROBLEM WILL OCCUR TONIGHT AND EARLY FRIDAY MORNING BEHIND THE COLD FRONT. TEMPERATURES WILL FALL RAPIDLY FROM THE WEST TONIGHT. AT THIS TIME...ENOUGH MOISTURE WILL LINGER OVER NORTH ALABAMA WHICH WILL COMBINE WITH FREEZING TEMPERATURES TO CAUSE SNOW FLURRIES MAINLY ACROSS NORTH ALABAMA LATE TONIGHT. COLD TEMPERATURES WILL CONTINUE FRIDAY WITH HIGHS ACROSS THE STATE ONLY IN THE UPPER 20S NORTH TO THE 30S MOST OTHER AREAS...EXCEPT LOWER 40S COASTAL SECTIONS. THE IMPACT OF THIS COLD AIR WILL SEEM EVEN MORE DRAMATIC GIVEN THE VERY WARM CONDITIONS ACROSS THE SOUTHEAST U.S. THE LAST FEW DAYS. RESIDENTS OF ALABAMA...WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA...AND NORTHWEST FLORIDA ARE ADVISED TO STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL BROADCAST MEDIA FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION ON THIS DEVELOPING WEATHER SITUATION.
Special weather statement, Jan 18, 11:01 AM CST, 1 minute before
ALZ001>069-GAZ089-090-102-120-FLZ001>015-190300- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 1115 AM CST (1215 AM EST) THU JAN 18 1996 ...DRASTIC WEATHER CHANGES CONTINUE FOR ALABAMA...NORTHWEST FLORIDA...AND WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS.... STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE MOVING CLOSER TO ALABAMA LATE THIS MORNING. CONDITIONS REMAIN FAVORABLE FOR SEVERE WEATHER ACROSS ALABAMA...NORTHWEST FLORIDA...AND WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA THROUGH THE REST OF THIS AFTERNOON. WESTERN ALABAMA WILL LIKELY EXPERIENCE THE FIRST SEVERE WEATHER DURING THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS. THE VERY STRONG COLD FRONT ASSOCIATED WITH THE SEVERE WEATHER IS EXPECTED TO MOVE INTO NORTHWEST ALABAMA BY EARLY EVENING. FOLLOWING THIS COLD FRONT RAPID TEMPERATURE FALLS ARE EXPECTED ACROSS THE STATE TONIGHT AND RESIDENTS OF ALABAMA WILL AWAKE FRIDAY TO VERY COLD AND WINDY CONDITIONS. CURRENTLY WINDS CHILL FORECAST FOR FRIDAY MORNING AND AFTERNOON RANGE FROM ZERO DEGREES OVER THE TENNESSEE VALLEY TO SINGLE DIGITS ACROSS CENTRAL AND READINGS IN THE TEENS ARE LIKELY ACROSS SOUTH ALABAMA...NORTHWEST FLORIDA...AND WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA. SNOW FLURRIES REMAIN POSSIBLE LATE TONIGHT ACROSS NORTH AND CENTRAL ALABAMA BUT THE FAST MOVING SYSTEM IS NOT EXPECTED TO PRODUCE SIGNIFICANT SNOW ACCUMULATION. RESIDENTS OF ALABAMA...WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA...AND NORTHWEST FLORIDA ARE ADVISED TO STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL BROADCAST MEDIA FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION ON THIS DEVELOPING WEATHER SITUATION.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 18, 11:02 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Colbert, Lauderdale | 58 min |
| Jan 18, 11:34 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lamar, Marion | 56 min |
| Jan 18, 11:49 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Pickens | 41 min |
| Jan 18, 12:19 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Lauderdale | 56 min |
| Jan 18, 12:30 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Fayette | 60 min |
| Jan 18, 12:40 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Marion | 50 min |
| Jan 18, 12:40 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Pickens | 50 min |
| Jan 18, 12:46 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Winston | 59 min |
| Jan 18, 12:52 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Fayette, Pickens | 38 min |
| Jan 18, 1:15 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Tuscaloosa | 30 min |
| Jan 18, 1:24 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Walker | 51 min |
| Jan 18, 1:54 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Cullman | 66 min |
| Jan 18, 1:54 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Jefferson | 66 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Alabama, 1996Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1996
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.