Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1996
Tornado Warning 124, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Dec 1, 1996, 2:05 AM CST for Randolph County, Alabama. It was in force for 40 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, 2:05 AM CST (08:05 UTC)
- Expired
- Dec 1, 1996, 2:45 AM CST
- In force
- 40 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Randolph County, AL
The radar
The Atlanta radar (KFFC), 83 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 08:07 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
Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 00:00Z, 8.1 hours before the alert went out and 89 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
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 665 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 53 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 477 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 643 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KBHM 010806 RRA TORBHM ALC111-010845- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 205 AM CST SUN DEC 1 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 245 AM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN EAST CENTRAL ALABAMA ...RANDOLPH COUNTY AT 205 AM RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CONTAINING A POSSIBLE TORNADO OVER SOUTHERN CLAY COUNTY MOVING EAST-NORTHEAST AT 30 TO 40 MPH. THIS STORM WILL ENTER SOUTHWEST RANDOLPH COUNTY BY 215 AM. 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 AVAILABL E...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, Dec 1, 12:29 AM CST, 1 hour 36 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.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 30, 8:41 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Colbert, Franklin | 64 min |
| Nov 30, 8:51 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lauderdale | 69 min |
| Nov 30, 9:02 PM CST | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Colbert, Franklin | 118 min |
| Nov 30, 9:02 PM CST | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Lauderdale | 118 min |
| Nov 30, 9:47 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Colbert, Franklin | 58 min |
| Nov 30, 10:03 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lauderdale | 57 min |
| Nov 30, 10:11 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Dallas | 34 min |
| Nov 30, 10:25 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Chilton | 50 min |
| Nov 30, 10:57 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Coosa | 63 min |
| Nov 30, 11:23 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Talladega | 37 min |
| Nov 30, 11:28 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Clay | 47 min |
| Dec 1, 1:24 AM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Montgomery | 51 min |
| Dec 1, 1:35 AM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Coosa | 25 min |
| Dec 1, 1:38 AM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Tallapoosa | 37 min |
| Dec 1, 1:44 AM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Macon | 46 min |
| Dec 1, 1:45 AM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Elmore | 30 min |
| Dec 1, 1:49 AM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Clay | 41 min |
| Dec 1, 1:59 AM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Tallapoosa | 46 min |
| Dec 1, 2:03 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Elmore, Montgomery | 117 min |
| Dec 1, 2:09 AM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Bullock | 36 min |
| Dec 1, 2:15 AM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Chambers | 45 min |
| Dec 1, 2:22 AM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Lee | 38 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.