Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 285, NWS Birmingham, AL

May 24, 1996Clay County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 24, 1996, 9:01 PM CDT for Clay County, Alabama. It was in force for 44 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
May 24, 1996, 9:01 PM CDT (02:01 UTC)
Expired
May 24, 1996, 9:45 PM CDT
In force
44 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Clay County, AL

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 2.0 hours before the alert went out and 86 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 1996-05-25Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 745 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 1996-05-25The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -43 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
745 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-102 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1913 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
14 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-43 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-71 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBHM 250201
SVRBHM
ALC027-250245-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
901 PM CDT FRI MAY 24 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  945 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN EAST CENTRAL ALABAMA
 
   ...CLAY COUNTY
 
AT 903 PM WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM NEAR DELTA
IN NORTHEAST CLAY COUNTY SLOWLY DRIFTING WEST. QUARTER SIZE HAIL IS
POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM.
 
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 SE*VERE 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

Local storm report, May 24, 6:26 PM CDT, 2 hours 35 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM ALABAMA
625 PM CDT FRI MAY 24 1996

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

0325 PM    CLANTON                   AL   .75 INCH HAIL
05/24/96   CHILTON

0412 PM    BIRMINGHAM                AL   .75 INCH HAIL
05/24/96   JEFFERSON

0415 PM    PRATTVILLE                AL   .5 INCH HAIL
05/24/96   AUTAUGA                        JUST NORTH OF PRATVILLE

0427 PM    CALERA                    AL   1 INCH HAIL
05/24/96   SHELBY

0430 PM    BIRMINGHAM ARPT           AL   .5 INCH HAIL
05/24/96   JEFFERSON                      REPORT NEAR AIRPORT

0445 PM    BRUNDIDGE                 AL   WIND DAMAGE
05/24/96   PIKE                           TREES BLOWN DOWN ON HWY
                                          231 2-3 MILES SOUTH OF
                                          BRUNDIDGE

0520 PM    SARDIS                    AL   WIND DAMAGE
05/24/96   DALLAS                         TREES BLOWN DOWN OF HWY 41
                                          NEAR SARDIS.  LARGE HAIL
                                          ALSO REPORTED.

0555 PM    HOOVER                    AL   WIND DAMAGE
05/24/96   JEFFERSON                      POWER LINES BLOWN DOWN ON
                                          ALFORD AVE.

0557 PM    MT OLIVE                  AL   1 INCH HAIL
05/24/96   JEFFERSON

0558 PM    TUSKEGEE                  AL   .88 INCH HAIL
05/24/96   MACON

0600 PM    BIRMINGHAM                AL   .88 INCH HAIL
05/24/96   JEFFERSON
Local storm report, May 24, 7:16 PM CDT, 1 hour 45 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM ALABAMA
715 PM CDT FRI MAY 24 1996

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....
0624 PM    BESSEMER                  AL   .75 INCH HAIL
05/24/96   JEFFERSON

0637 PM    HUEYTOWN                  AL   WIND DAMAGE
05/24/96   JEFFERSON                      TREES BLOWN DOWN.

0640 PM    HOOVER                    AL
05/24/96   JEFFJERSON                      LIGHTNING STRUCK A HOUSE
                                          AND KNOCKED OUT
                                          APPLIANCES.
Special weather statement, May 24, 7:27 PM CDT, 1 hour 34 minutes before
ALZ043-250130-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
727 PM CDT FRI MAY 24 1996

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR MACON COUNTY HAS BEEN CANCELLED.
THE STORMS HAVE WEAKEND ANjD MOVED WESTWARD.
Special weather statement, May 24, 7:31 PM CDT, 1 hour 30 minutes before
ALZ043-250130-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...CORRECTED FOR COUNTY NAME
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
727 PM CDT FRI MAY 24 1996

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR ELMORE COUNTY HAS BEEN CANCEtLLED.
THE STORMS HAVE WEAKEND AND MOVED WESTWARD.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 24, 7:23 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXWalker67 min
May 24, 7:35 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTalladega40 min
May 24, 7:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTuscaloosa33 min
May 24, 8:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXRandolph64 min
May 24, 8:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMadison55 min
May 24, 8:35 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCleburne55 min
May 24, 9:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMadison62 min
May 24, 9:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCalhoun45 min
May 24, 9:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJackson60 min
May 24, 9:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCleburne30 min
May 24, 10:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJackson59 min
May 24, 10:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXDeKalb55 min
May 25, 1:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarengo44 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.