Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 221, NWS Birmingham, AL

April 23, 1996Cullman County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 23, 1996, 12:57 AM CDT for Cullman County, Alabama. It was in force for 63 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
Apr 23, 1996, 12:57 AM CDT (05:57 UTC)
Expired
Apr 23, 1996, 2:00 AM CDT
In force
63 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Cullman County, AL

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 107 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 05:57 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.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Apr 23, 1:15 AM CDTThunderstorm Wind 50Cullman, AL

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.

The nearest sounding before it

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 00:00Z, 6.0 hours before the alert went out and 223 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 1996-04-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 222 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 00:00Z on 1996-04-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 151 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
222 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-22 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1420 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
51 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
151 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
160 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
1.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

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

Local storm report, Apr 23, 12:52 AM CDT, 5 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM ALABAMA
1250 AM CDT TUE APR 23 1996

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

1140 PM    ALICEVILLE                AL   TREES AND POWER LINES
04/22/96   PICKENS                        DOWN ON HIGHWAY 14.

1200 AM    VERNON                    AL   POSSIBLE FUNNEL CLOUD
04/23/96   LAMAR                          JUST WEST OF VERNON.

1203 AM    LIVINGSTON                AL   TREES AND POWER LINES
04/23/96   SUMTER                         DOWN.

1210 AM    HAMILTON                  AL   MOST OF HAMILTON WITHOUT
04/23/96   MARION                         POWER.

1215 AM    LIVINGSTON                AL   4 HOUSES DAMAGED.
04/23/96   SUMTER

1228 AM    TUSCALOOSA                AL   NUMEROUS TREES AND POWER
04/23/96   TUSCALOOSA                     LINES DOWN IN CITY.

1230 AM    TUSCALOOSA                AL   TREES DOWN ON HOUSE.
04/23/96   TUSCALOOSA                     1 INJURY REPORTED TO
                                          TUSCALOOSA PD.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 22, 9:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLauderdale62 min
Apr 22, 11:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPickens53 min
Apr 22, 11:25 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSumter65 min
Apr 22, 11:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLamar69 min
Apr 22, 11:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXGreene40 min
Apr 22, 11:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTuscaloosa67 min
Apr 23, 12:07 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFayette38 min
Apr 23, 12:10 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXHale, Marengo50 min
Apr 23, 12:22 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarion, Winston53 min
Apr 23, 12:27 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXWalker48 min
Apr 23, 12:27 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFranklin63 min
Apr 23, 12:33 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXWalker42 min
Apr 23, 12:37 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBibb, Jefferson68 min
Apr 23, 12:43 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLawrence62 min
Apr 23, 12:50 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPerry40 min
Apr 23, 1:04 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXShelby56 min
Apr 23, 1:11 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMorgan64 min
Apr 23, 1:14 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBlount61 min
Apr 23, 1:27 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLimestone63 min
Apr 23, 1:30 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSt. Clair60 min
Apr 23, 1:46 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMadison59 min
Apr 23, 1:58 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarshall62 min
Apr 23, 2:05 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXLimestone3 hr
Apr 23, 2:25 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJackson65 min
Apr 23, 2:38 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXDeKalb67 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.