Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 127, NWS Birmingham, AL

December 1, 1996Lee County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Dec 1, 1996, 2:22 AM CST for Lee County, Alabama. It was in force for 38 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, 2:22 AM CST (08:22 UTC)
Expired
Dec 1, 1996, 3:00 AM CST
In force
38 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Lee County, AL

The nearest sounding before it

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 00:00Z, 8.4 hours before the alert went out and 117 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, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 00:00Z on 1996-12-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 00:00Z on 1996-12-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 477 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

830 
WFUS1 KBHM 010822 RRA
TORBHM
ALC081-010900-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
222 AM CST SUN DEC 1 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  300 AM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN EAST CENTRAL ALABAMA
 
   ...LEE COUNTY
 
AT 220 AM RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND LIKELY TORNADO IN
LEE COUNTY. THE STORM WAS MOVING EAST NORTHEAST AROUND 40 MPH...AND WILL
MOVE ACROSS LEE COUNTY THROUGH 300 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 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, Dec 1, 12:29 AM CST, 1 hour 53 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, 1:49 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

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.