Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 10, NWS Birmingham, AL

February 19, 1996Marengo County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Feb 19, 1996, 3:23 PM CST for Marengo County, Alabama. It was in force for 37 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
Feb 19, 1996, 3:23 PM CST (21:23 UTC)
Expired
Feb 19, 1996, 4:00 PM CST
In force
37 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Marengo County, AL

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 140 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:26 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 9.4 hours before the alert went out and 140 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 1996-02-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 1996-02-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 162 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
723 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
48 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
162 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
166 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 192124
TORBHM
ALC091-192200-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
323 PM CST MON FEB 19 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  400 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA
 
   ...NORTHEASTERN MARENGO COUNTY
 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR CONTINUED TO SHOW A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
THAT COULD PRODUCE A TORNADO MOVING THROUGH NORTHEAST MARENGO COUNTY. A
FUNNEL CLOUD WAS REPORTED BY THE LINDEN POLICE DEPARTMENT ALONG WITH
SOME POWER LINES DOWNED. THE THUNDERSTORM WILL MOVE ACROSS NORTHEAST
MARENGO COUNTY JUST NORTH OF DAYTON BY 3:30 PM.
 
DO NOT USE YOUR CAR TO TRY TO OUTRUN A TORNADO.  CARS ARE EASILY
TOSSED AROUND BY TORNADO WINDS.  IF YOU ARE CAUGHT IN THE PATH OF
A TORNADO...LEAVE THE CAR AND GO TO A STRONG BUILDING.  IF NO
STRUCTURE IS NEARBY...SEEK SHELTER IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT.
 
 
 
&

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Feb 19, 2:44 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarengo46 min
Feb 19, 3:28 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXPerry32 min
Feb 19, 3:40 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXDallas65 min
Feb 19, 5:58 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXChilton32 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Alabama, 1996Every tornado warning in 1996Tornadoes 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.