Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 271, NWS Birmingham, AL

May 24, 1996Jefferson County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 24, 1996, 5:49 PM CDT for Jefferson County, Alabama. It was in force for 41 min. 7 reports 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, 5:49 PM CDT (22:49 UTC)
Expired
May 24, 1996, 6:30 PM CDT
In force
41 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Jefferson County, AL

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 44 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:50 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, 5:53 PM CDTHail 1Mt. Olive, AL
May 24, 5:55 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 50Hoover, AL
May 24, 6:00 PM CDTHail 0.88Birmingham, AL
May 24, 6:11 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 50Homewood, AL
May 24, 6:12 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 55Birmingham, AL
May 24, 6:24 PM CDTHail 0.75Bessemer, AL
May 24, 6:37 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 50Hueytown, 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, 10.8 hours before the alert went out and 43 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 242249
SVRBHM
ALC073-242330-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
549 PM CDT FRI MAY 24 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  630 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN CENTRAL ALABAMA
 
   ...JEFFERSON COUNTY
 
AT 547 PM 1/2 TO 3/4 INCH HAIL WAS REPORTED IN THE VESTAVIA HILLS AREA.
OTHER POSSIBLE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WERE OVER NORTHERN JEFFERSON COUNTY.
THE STORMS WERE MOVING WESTWARD SLOWLY.
 
 
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOV6E TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS.  HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO
DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.
 
 
 
&

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, 4:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXShelby43 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, 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.