Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 77, NWS Birmingham, AL

March 6, 1996Lee County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 6, 1996, 11:16 PM CST for Lee County, Alabama. It was in force for 44 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
Mar 6, 1996, 11:16 PM CST (05:16 UTC)
Expired
Mar 7, 1996, 12:00 AM CST
In force
44 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Lee County, AL

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Mar 6, 11:50 PM CSTThunderstorm Wind 70Opelika, 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

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 00:00Z, 5.3 hours before the alert went out and 117 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, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 00:00Z on 1996-03-07Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 113 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, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 00:00Z on 1996-03-07The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 191 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
113 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-96 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
709 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
73 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
191 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
215 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
2.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WUUS1 KBHM 070519 RRA
SVRBHM
ALC081-070600-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
1116 PM CST WED MAR 6 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL MIDNIGHT CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN EAST CENTRAL ALABAMA
 
   ...LEE COUNTY
 
AT 1116 PM CST...WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER
WESTERN LEE COUNTY...JUST WEST OF AUBURN. THIS STORM WAS MOVING EAST AT
30 MPH...AND WILL MOVE ACROSS THE AUBURN AND OPELIKA AREAS THROUGH 1145
PM. REPORTS OF WIND DAMAGE WERE REPORTED WITH THIS STORM IN THE
TUSKEGEE AREA OF MACON COUNTY AROUND 1110 PM.
 
A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THE WARNED AREA.  REMEMBER
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES
WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING.  REMAIN CALM BUT BE ALERT TO
RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS.
 
 
 
&

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

Special weather statement, Mar 6, 5:19 PM CST, 5 hours 57 minutes before
ALZ021-026-027-028-029-070000-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
519 PM CST WED MAR 6 1996

THE TORNADO WARNINGS FOR CLEBURNE AND CLAY COUNTIES...AND THE SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY...HAVE BEEN CANCELLED.
ALTHOUGH THERE WERE ISOLATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS IN THESE AREAS...THE
STORMS HAVE DECREASED TO BELOW SEVERE LEVELS.

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR MOST OF ALABAMA UNTIL 6 PM CST.
THE ATMOSPHERE IS STILL QUITE MOIST AND UNSTABLE...AND ADDITIONAL
WATCHES WILL LIKELY BE ISSUED LATER TONIGHT.
Special weather statement, Mar 6, 5:21 PM CST, 5 hours 55 minutes before
ALZ021-026-027-028-029-070000-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
519 PM CST WED MAR 6 1996

THE TORNADO WARNINGS FOR CLEBURNE AND CLAY COUNTIES...AND THE SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY...HAVE BEEN CANCELLED.
ALTHOUGH THERE WERE ISOLATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS IN THESE AREAS...THE
STORMS HAVE DECREASED TO BELOW SEVERE LEVELS.

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR MOST OF ALABAMA UNTIL 6 PM CST.
THE ATMOSPHERE IS STILL QUITE MOIST AND UNSTABLE...AND ADDITIONAL
WATCHES WILL LIKELY BE ISSUED LATER TONIGHT.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 6, 6:10 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarengo65 min
Mar 6, 7:12 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSumter63 min
Mar 6, 7:24 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFranklin66 min
Mar 6, 7:35 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXGreene40 min
Mar 6, 7:54 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPickens51 min
Mar 6, 7:58 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarion62 min
Mar 6, 8:03 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFranklin57 min
Mar 6, 8:11 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLawrence64 min
Mar 6, 8:16 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSumter44 min
Mar 6, 8:21 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTuscaloosa54 min
Mar 6, 8:30 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMadison60 min
Mar 6, 8:37 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLauderdale, Limestone68 min
Mar 6, 8:47 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXWinston43 min
Mar 6, 9:14 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTuscaloosa46 min
Mar 6, 9:15 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXLauderdale, Limestone45 min
Mar 6, 9:15 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLauderdale, Limestone45 min
Mar 6, 9:16 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXLimestone3 hr
Mar 6, 9:19 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXLauderdale, Limestone41 min
Mar 6, 9:19 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLauderdale, Limestone41 min
Mar 6, 9:21 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMontgomery39 min
Mar 6, 9:38 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXLowndes37 min
Mar 6, 10:01 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMontgomery44 min
Mar 6, 10:36 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXLowndes, Montgomery3 hr
Mar 6, 10:39 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMacon66 min
Mar 6, 11:46 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXBibb, Shelby2 hr
Mar 7, 1:58 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXBibb, Shelby3 hr
Mar 7, 2:53 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXTalladega3 hr
Mar 7, 5:01 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXShelby3 hr
Mar 7, 7:02 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXTalladega118 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.