Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 110, NWS Birmingham, AL

November 7, 1996Clay County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Nov 7, 1996, 7:02 PM CST for Clay County, Alabama. It was in force for 28 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, 7:02 PM CST (01:02 UTC)
Expired
Nov 7, 1996, 7:30 PM CST
In force
28 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 01:02 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, 1.0 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.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Birmingham, AL at 00:00Z on 1996-11-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 984 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 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 00:00Z on 1996-11-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 297 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
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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBHM 080102
TORBHM
ALC027-080130-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
702 PM CST THU NOV 7 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  730 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN EAST CENTRAL ALABAMA
 
   ...NORTHERN CLAY COUNTY
 
A TORNADO WAS STILL INDICATED BY RADAR WITH THE THUNDERSTORM OVER
NORTHERN CLAY COUNTY NORTHWEST OF ASHLAND NEAR PYRITON. THIS STORM HAS A
HISTORY OF PRODUCING DAMAGE OVER NORTHERN COOSA COUNTY. MOVEMENT WAS
NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH.
 
 
 
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, 3 hours 2 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, 1 hour 42 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, 1 hour 41 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, 6:03 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCherokee27 min
Nov 7, 6:08 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXElmore37 min
Nov 7, 6:15 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXClay45 min
Nov 7, 6:25 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXTalladega35 min
Nov 7, 6:40 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXElmore, Tallapoosa50 min
Nov 7, 7:33 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTallapoosa27 min
Nov 7, 7:44 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXChambers46 min
Nov 7, 7:56 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXRandolph49 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.