Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 103, NWS Birmingham, AL

November 7, 1996Calhoun County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Nov 7, 1996, 5:38 PM CST for Calhoun County, Alabama. It was in force for 52 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
Nov 7, 1996, 5:38 PM CST (23:38 UTC)
Expired
Nov 7, 1996, 6:30 PM CST
In force
52 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Calhoun County, AL

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 110 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:39 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, 11.6 hours before the alert went out and 110 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 1996-11-07Temperature 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 1996-11-07The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 239 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
963 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
239 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
276 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 072340 RRA
TORBHM
ALC015-080030-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
538 PM CST THU NOV 7 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  630 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN EAST CENTRAL ALABAMA
 
   ...CALHOUN COUNTY
 
A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM PRODUCING A TORNADO WILL MOVE INTO THE HOBSON CITY
AREA OF SOUTHWEST CALHOUN COUNTY BY 545 PM. THE STORM WAS MOVING
NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH AND WILL MOVE ACROSS WEST END AND ANNISTON BY 6 PM.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION.  ACT QUICKLY.  IF YOU ARE
IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF
AVAILABLE.  OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR POSSIBLE.  AVOID WINDOWS.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES
FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado 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, Nov 7, 4:00 PM CST, 1 hour 38 minutes before
ALZ004-005-013-014-022-072300-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
400 PM CST THU NOV 7 1996

THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN WEST AND NORTHWEST ALABAMA HAVE BEEN REMOVED
FROM TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 1121...

LIMESTONE...LAWRENCE...WINSTON...FAYETTE...PICKENS.
Special weather statement, Nov 7, 5:20 PM CST, 18 minutes before
ALZ006-007-015-016-080000-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
520 PM CST THU NOV 7 1996

THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN NORTH ALABAMA HAVE BEEN REMOVED
FROM TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 1121....

MADISON...MORGAN...CULLMAN...WALKER.
Special weather statement, Nov 7, 5:21 PM CST, 17 minutes before
ALZ006-007-015-016-080000-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
520 PM CST THU NOV 7 1996

THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN NORTH ALABAMA HAVE BEEN REMOVED
FROM TORNADO WATCH NUMBER &1121....

MADISON...MORGAN...CULLMAN...WALKER.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Nov 7, 12:19 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXColbert, Lauderdale56 min
Nov 7, 12:27 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLamar48 min
Nov 7, 12:32 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFranklin58 min
Nov 7, 1:02 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarion43 min
Nov 7, 1:22 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBibb, Perry53 min
Nov 7, 1:24 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFayette51 min
Nov 7, 2:11 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXBibb34 min
Nov 7, 2:28 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXChilton17 min
Nov 7, 2:40 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSumter50 min
Nov 7, 2:50 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXShelby25 min
Nov 7, 3:03 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLimestone, Morgan57 min
Nov 7, 3:17 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBibb28 min
Nov 7, 4:13 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXShelby32 min
Nov 7, 4:27 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXShelby48 min
Nov 7, 4:42 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSt. Clair48 min
Nov 7, 4:52 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXTalladega38 min
Nov 7, 5:05 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXSt. Clair25 min
Nov 7, 5:26 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCalhoun, Etowah49 min
Nov 7, 5:31 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXTalladega29 min
Nov 7, 5:35 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXChilton40 min
Nov 7, 5:52 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXAutauga, Montgomery38 min
Nov 7, 5:57 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXCoosa48 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.