Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 445, NWS Birmingham, AL

October 18, 1996Marion County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Oct 18, 1996, 1:01 AM CDT for Marion County, Alabama. It was in force for 59 min. 2 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
Oct 18, 1996, 1:01 AM CDT (06:01 UTC)
Expired
Oct 18, 1996, 2:00 AM CDT
In force
59 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Marion County, AL

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Oct 18, 1:28 AM CDTHail 0.88Hamilton, AL
Oct 18, 1:38 AM CDTHail 0.75Guin, 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 00:00Z, 6.0 hours before the alert went out and 148 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 1996-10-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 44 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 1996-10-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 46 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
44 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-79 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1516 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
46 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
124 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 180603
SVRBHM
ALC093-180700-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
101 AM CDT FRI OCT 18 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  200 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTH ALABAMA
 
   ...MARION COUNTY
 
AT 100 AM RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ENTERING
WESTERN MARION COUNTY. THESE STORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 30 TO 40 MPH.
 
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
OF YOUR HOME ORf 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
Oct 17, 11:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLauderdale62 min
Oct 18, 12:03 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXColbert57 min
Oct 18, 12:37 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXLauderdale68 min
Oct 18, 12:57 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFranklin63 min
Oct 18, 1:12 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLawrence, Limestone48 min
Oct 18, 1:38 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLamar67 min
Oct 18, 1:45 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMorgan60 min
Oct 18, 2:14 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFayette61 min
Oct 18, 2:24 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXWalker66 min
Oct 18, 2:31 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPickens44 min
Oct 18, 2:47 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTuscaloosa58 min
Oct 18, 3:42 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSumter33 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.