Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1996
Tornado Warning 107, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Nov 7, 1996, 6:15 PM CST for Clay County, Alabama. It was in force for 45 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, 6:15 PM CST (00:15 UTC)
- Expired
- Nov 7, 1996, 7:00 PM CST
- In force
- 45 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Clay County, AL
The radar
The Maxwell AFB radar (KMXX), 82 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:15 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 00:00Z, 0.3 hours before the alert went out and 86 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 984 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -11 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 746 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 60 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 297 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 349 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 2.3
- Supercell composite
- 13.7
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KBHM 080016 TORBHM ALC027-080100- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 615 PM CST THU NOV 7 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 700 PM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN EAST CENTRAL ALABAMA ...CLAY COUNTY AT 614 PM...RADAR INDICATED A TORNADIC THUNDERSTORM ENTERING SOUTHWEST CLAY COUNTY. THIS STORM WILL MOVE NEAR THE TOWNS OF ASHLAND AND HOLLINS BY 630PM. THE STORM WAS MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 35 MILES AN HOUR. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS... OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY. AVOID WINDOWS.
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, 2 hours 15 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, 55 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, 54 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.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 7, 6:03 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Cherokee | 27 min |
| Nov 7, 6:08 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Elmore | 37 min |
| Nov 7, 6:25 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Talladega | 35 min |
| Nov 7, 6:40 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Elmore, Tallapoosa | 50 min |
| Nov 7, 7:02 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Clay | 28 min |
| Nov 7, 7:33 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Tallapoosa | 27 min |
| Nov 7, 7:44 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Chambers | 46 min |
| Nov 7, 7:56 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Randolph | 49 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.