Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 122, NWS Birmingham, AL

December 1, 1996Clay County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Dec 1, 1996, 1:49 AM CST for Clay County, Alabama. It was in force for 41 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
Dec 1, 1996, 1:49 AM CST (07:49 UTC)
Expired
Dec 1, 1996, 2:30 AM CST
In force
41 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Clay County, AL

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 7.8 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 1996-12-01Temperature 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 010750 RRA
TORBHM
ALC027-010830-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
149 AM CST SUN DEC 1 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  230 AM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN EAST CENTRAL ALABAMA
 
   ...CLAY COUNTY
 
A TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY RADAR OVER NORTHWESTERN TALLAPOOSA COUNTY AND
WILL MOVE INTO SOUTHERN CLAY COUNTY BY 2 AM. THIS STORM WAS MOVING TO THNORTHEAST AT 40 MPH AND SHOULD AFFECT THE BLUFF SPRINGS AND MELLOW
VALLEY AREAS BETWEEN 2 AND 215 AM.
 
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, Dec 1, 12:29 AM CST, 1 hour 20 minutes before
ALZ004>007-013>016-023-032-010700-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
 1230 AM CST SUN DEC 1 1996

TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 1150 HAS BEEN CANCELLED FOR THE FOLLOWING
COUNTIES IN WEST ALABAMA...

LIMESTONE...LAWRENCE...WINSTON...WALKER...TUSCALOOSA AND HALE.

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, 10:25 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXChilton50 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, 1:59 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.