Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 201, NWS Birmingham, AL

April 20, 1996Etowah County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 20, 1996, 11:37 PM CDT for Etowah County, Alabama. It was in force for 53 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
Apr 20, 1996, 11:37 PM CDT (04:37 UTC)
Expired
Apr 21, 1996, 12:30 AM CDT
In force
53 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Etowah County, AL

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 4.6 hours before the alert went out and 118 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 1996-04-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1416 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 1996-04-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 270 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
1416 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-57 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
837 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
45 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
270 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
358 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
12.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBHM 210438
SVRBHM
ALC055-210530-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
1137 PM CDT SAT APR 20 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1230 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTH ALABAMA
 
   ...ETOWAH COUNTY
 
AT 1135 PM CDT...WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
MOVING ACROSS THE BLOUNT/ETOWAH COUNTY LINE. THE STORMS WERE MOVING EAST
AT 45 TO 50 MPH AND WILL AFFECT MOST COMMUNITIES ACROSS ETOWAH COUNTY.
THE STORMS WILL ALSO AFFECT THE GADSDEN AREA AROUND MIDNIGHT AND 1215
AM. TAKE COVER.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM.  IF YOU ARE IN ITS PATH YOU SHOULD
PREPARE FOR DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH...LARGE HAIL...AND
DEADLY LIGHTNING.  PEOPLE OUTSIDE SHOULD MOVE TO A SHELTER...
PREFERABLY INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING BUT STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

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, Apr 20, 9:06 PM CDT, 2 hours 31 minutes before
ALZ040>045-047-054-210245-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
905 PM CDT SAT APR 20 1996

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS CLEARED THE FOLLOWING
COUNTIES FROM
SEVERE STORM WATCH NUMBER 206:

WILCOX...DALLAS...AUTAGA...LOWNDES...ELMORE...MONTGOMERY...MACON...
AND LEE.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 20, 7:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson53 min
Apr 20, 7:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLamar62 min
Apr 20, 7:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXWalker61 min
Apr 20, 7:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBlount53 min
Apr 20, 7:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFayette46 min
Apr 20, 8:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXEtowah47 min
Apr 20, 8:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLamar, Pickens58 min
Apr 20, 9:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFayette59 min
Apr 20, 9:33 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLamar, Pickens57 min
Apr 20, 9:47 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXFayette43 min
Apr 20, 10:11 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXWalker49 min
Apr 20, 10:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTuscaloosa58 min
Apr 20, 10:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMadison62 min
Apr 20, 10:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFayette30 min
Apr 20, 10:39 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson66 min
Apr 20, 10:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCullman48 min
Apr 20, 10:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBlount66 min
Apr 20, 10:58 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXCullman47 min
Apr 20, 11:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXShelby68 min
Apr 20, 11:11 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXJefferson34 min
Apr 20, 11:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSt. Clair40 min
Apr 20, 11:33 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXBlount42 min
Apr 20, 11:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarshall58 min
Apr 20, 11:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCalhoun48 min
Apr 21, 8:41 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMorgan64 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.