Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 477, NWS Birmingham, AL

December 12, 1996Chilton County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Dec 12, 1996, 3:34 PM CST for Chilton County, Alabama. It was in force for 26 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
Dec 12, 1996, 3:34 PM CST (21:34 UTC)
Expired
Dec 12, 1996, 4:00 PM CST
In force
26 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Chilton County, AL

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 36 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:35 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
Dec 12, 3:40 PM CSTHail 0.75Jemison, 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, 9.6 hours before the alert went out and 37 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 1996-12-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 427 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 1996-12-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 165 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
427 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
558 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
165 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
154 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.3
Supercell composite
1.6

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.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Dec 12, 12:53 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPickens, Tuscaloosa67 min
Dec 12, 1:27 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXGreene48 min
Dec 12, 2:04 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBibb56 min
Dec 12, 2:17 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXShelby58 min
Dec 12, 3:50 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXDallas25 min
Dec 12, 4:00 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXAutauga45 min
Dec 12, 4:09 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPike51 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.