Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 261, NWS Birmingham, AL

May 24, 1996Shelby County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 24, 1996, 4:17 PM CDT for Shelby County, Alabama. It was in force for 43 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
May 24, 1996, 4:17 PM CDT (21:17 UTC)
Expired
May 24, 1996, 5:00 PM CDT
In force
43 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Shelby County, AL

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 14 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:21 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
May 24, 4:27 PM CDTHail 1Calera, 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

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 9.3 hours before the alert went out and 14 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 12:00Z on 1996-05-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1554 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 12:00Z on 1996-05-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 16 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
1554 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-118 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1335 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
12 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
16 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
67 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 242117
SVRBHM
ALC117-242200-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
417 PM CDT FRI MAY 24 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  500 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN CENTRAL ALABAMA
 
   ...SOUTHERN SHELBY COUNTY
 
AT 417 PM RADAR INDICATED A CLUSTER OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER
SOUTHERN SHELBY COUNTY MOVING SLOWLY TO THE NORTH.
 
 
 
WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A
STRONG BUILDING.  DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS.  DON'T USE TELEPHONES
OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL THE STORM
HAS PASSED.  MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE INTO LOW WATER CROSSINGS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 24, 3:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXChilton58 min
May 24, 3:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXAutauga41 min
May 24, 4:12 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson48 min
May 24, 4:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBarbour44 min
May 24, 4:39 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLowndes66 min
May 24, 4:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPike61 min
May 24, 5:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXDallas65 min
May 24, 5:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXRussell58 min
May 24, 5:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPerry58 min
May 24, 5:34 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMacon56 min
May 24, 5:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson41 min
May 24, 6:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMontgomery64 min
May 24, 6:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXRussell61 min
May 24, 6:25 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMacon65 min
May 24, 6:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson62 min
May 24, 6:41 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXElmore64 min
May 24, 6:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBlount, Cullman41 min
May 24, 6:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBibb53 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.