Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 113, NWS Birmingham, AL

November 30, 1996Chilton County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Nov 30, 1996, 10:25 PM CST for Chilton County, Alabama. It was in force for 50 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
Nov 30, 1996, 10:25 PM CST (04:25 UTC)
Expired
Nov 30, 1996, 11:15 PM CST
In force
50 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Chilton County, AL

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 36 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:25 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.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Nov 30, 10:45 PM CSTTornado F0Clanton, 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

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 4.4 hours before the alert went out and 37 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 1996-12-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 53 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 1996-12-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 288 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
53 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-56 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
521 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
53 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
288 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
363 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBHM 010428 RRA
TORBHM
ALC021-010515-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
1025 PM CST SAT NOV 30 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1115 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN CENTRAL ALABAMA
 
   ...CHILTON COUNTY
 
AT 1024 PM RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND POSSIBLE TORNADO
MOVING INTO THE SOUTHWEST CORNER OF CHILTON COUNTY...JUST EAST OF THE
RIDERVILLE COMMUNITY. CITIES IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE
PLETCHER...FAIRVIEW...CLANTON AND COOPER. THE STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST
AROUND 40 MPH.
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UrNDER 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.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Nov 30, 8:41 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXColbert, Franklin64 min
Nov 30, 8:51 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLauderdale69 min
Nov 30, 9:02 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXColbert, Franklin118 min
Nov 30, 9:02 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXLauderdale118 min
Nov 30, 9:47 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXColbert, Franklin58 min
Nov 30, 10:03 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLauderdale57 min
Nov 30, 10:11 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXDallas34 min
Nov 30, 10:57 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXCoosa63 min
Nov 30, 11:23 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXTalladega37 min
Nov 30, 11:28 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXClay47 min
Dec 1, 1:24 AM CSTTornado WarningBMXMontgomery51 min
Dec 1, 1:35 AM CSTTornado WarningBMXCoosa25 min
Dec 1, 1:38 AM CSTTornado WarningBMXTallapoosa37 min
Dec 1, 1:44 AM CSTTornado WarningBMXMacon46 min
Dec 1, 1:45 AM CSTTornado WarningBMXElmore30 min
Dec 1, 1:49 AM CSTTornado WarningBMXClay41 min
Dec 1, 1:59 AM CSTTornado WarningBMXTallapoosa46 min
Dec 1, 2:03 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXElmore, Montgomery117 min
Dec 1, 2:05 AM CSTTornado WarningBMXRandolph40 min
Dec 1, 2:09 AM CSTTornado WarningBMXBullock36 min
Dec 1, 2:15 AM CSTTornado WarningBMXChambers45 min
Dec 1, 2:22 AM CSTTornado WarningBMXLee38 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.