Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1996
Tornado Warning 3, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Jan 18, 1996, 1:15 PM CST for Tuscaloosa County, Alabama. It was in force for 30 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
- Jan 18, 1996, 1:15 PM CST (19:15 UTC)
- Expired
- Jan 18, 1996, 1:45 PM CST
- In force
- 30 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Tuscaloosa County, AL
The radar
The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 71 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:16 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 12:00Z, 7.3 hours before the alert went out and 70 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
- 790 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 49 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 393 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 482 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 181915 TORBHM ALC125-181945- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 115 PM CST THU JAN 18 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 145 PM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA ...NORTHERN TUSCALOOSA COUNTY AT 113 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER RADAR SHOWED THAT A TORNADO IS LIKELY WITH A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER NORTHWEST TUSCALOOSA COUNTY NEAR MOORES BRIDGE AREA. THE STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MILES AN HOUR. THE STORM WILL AFFECT THE NEW LEXINGTON AREA AROUND 130 PM. IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED BUILDING. AS A LAST6 RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH OR LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.
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, Jan 18, 11:01 AM CST, 2 hours 14 minutes before
ALZ001>069-GAZ089-090-102-120-FLZ001>015-190300- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 1115 AM CST (1215 AM EST) THU JAN 18 1996 ...DRASTIC WEATHER CHANGES CONTINUE FOR ALABAMA...NORTHWEST FLORIDA...AND WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS.... STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE MOVING CLOSER TO ALABAMA LATE THIS MORNING. CONDITIONS REMAIN FAVORABLE FOR SEVERE WEATHER ACROSS ALABAMA...NORTHWEST FLORIDA...AND WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA THROUGH THE REST OF THIS AFTERNOON. WESTERN ALABAMA WILL LIKELY EXPERIENCE THE FIRST SEVERE WEATHER DURING THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS. THE VERY STRONG COLD FRONT ASSOCIATED WITH THE SEVERE WEATHER IS EXPECTED TO MOVE INTO NORTHWEST ALABAMA BY EARLY EVENING. FOLLOWING THIS COLD FRONT RAPID TEMPERATURE FALLS ARE EXPECTED ACROSS THE STATE TONIGHT AND RESIDENTS OF ALABAMA WILL AWAKE FRIDAY TO VERY COLD AND WINDY CONDITIONS. CURRENTLY WINDS CHILL FORECAST FOR FRIDAY MORNING AND AFTERNOON RANGE FROM ZERO DEGREES OVER THE TENNESSEE VALLEY TO SINGLE DIGITS ACROSS CENTRAL AND READINGS IN THE TEENS ARE LIKELY ACROSS SOUTH ALABAMA...NORTHWEST FLORIDA...AND WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA. SNOW FLURRIES REMAIN POSSIBLE LATE TONIGHT ACROSS NORTH AND CENTRAL ALABAMA BUT THE FAST MOVING SYSTEM IS NOT EXPECTED TO PRODUCE SIGNIFICANT SNOW ACCUMULATION. RESIDENTS OF ALABAMA...WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA...AND NORTHWEST FLORIDA ARE ADVISED TO STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL BROADCAST MEDIA FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION ON THIS DEVELOPING WEATHER SITUATION.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 18, 11:02 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Colbert, Lauderdale | 58 min |
| Jan 18, 11:02 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Franklin | 58 min |
| Jan 18, 11:34 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lamar, Marion | 56 min |
| Jan 18, 11:49 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Pickens | 41 min |
| Jan 18, 12:19 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Lauderdale | 56 min |
| Jan 18, 12:30 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Fayette | 60 min |
| Jan 18, 12:40 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Marion | 50 min |
| Jan 18, 12:40 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Pickens | 50 min |
| Jan 18, 12:46 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Winston | 59 min |
| Jan 18, 12:52 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Fayette, Pickens | 38 min |
| Jan 18, 1:24 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Walker | 51 min |
| Jan 18, 1:54 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Cullman | 66 min |
| Jan 18, 1:54 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Jefferson | 66 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.