Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1996
Tornado Warning 31, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Mar 6, 1996, 9:38 PM CST for Lowndes County, Alabama. It was in force for 37 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
- Mar 6, 1996, 9:38 PM CST (03:38 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 6, 1996, 10:15 PM CST
- In force
- 37 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Lowndes County, AL
The nearest sounding before it
Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 3.6 hours before the alert went out and 115 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
- 559 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -5 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1401 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 60 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 55 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 73 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.1
- Supercell composite
- 2.4
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KBHM 070340 TORBHM ALC085-070415- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 938 PM CST WED MAR 6 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1015 PM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN CENTRAL ALABAMA ...LOWNDES COUNTY AT 937 PM RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND POSSIBLE TORNADO IN WESTERN LOWNDES NEAR FARMERSVILLE. THIS STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AROUND 45 MPH...AND WILL AFFECT THE GORDONSVILLE...MOSSESS...AND LOWNDESBORO AREAS BEFORE 1000 PM. DO NOT USE YOUR CAR TO TRY TO OUTRUN A TORNADO. CARS ARE EASILY TOSSED AROUND BY TORNADO WINDS. IF YOU ARE CAUGHT IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...LEAVE THE CAR AND GO TO A STRONG BUILDING. IF NO STRUCTURE IS NEARBY...SEEK SHELTER IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT.
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, Mar 6, 4:15 PM CST, 5 hours 23 minutes before
ALZALL-GAZ089-090-102-120-FLZ001>015-071000- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 415 PM CST (515 PM EST) WED MAR 6 1996 ...RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER ACROSS ALABAMA...WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA... AND THE WESTERN PANHANDLE OF FLORIDA... EVEN THOUGH A LARGE PORTION OF ALABAMA AND GEORGIA HAS BEEN DEALING WITH SEVERE WEATHER SINCE LAST NIGHT, THE MAIN STORM SYSTEM IS STILL HEADED TOWARDS THE GULF COAST REGION AND SEVERE WEATHER WILL CONTINUE INTO TONIGHT AND THURSDAY MORNING. A STRONG ARCTIC COLD FRONT OVER WESTERN TENNESSEE AND NORTHWEST MISSISSIPPI WILL MOVE INTO NORTHERN ALABAMA THIS EVENING, INTO SOUTH ALABAMA AND WEST GEORGIA AFTER MIDNIGHT, AND INTO NORTHWEST FLORIDA THURSDAY MORNING. A LINE OF STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WAS DEVELOPING ALONG THIS FRONT AND WILL ENTER ALABAMA THIS EVENING AND THEN SPREAD EASTWARD ACROSS REGION. THE THREAT OF DAMAGING WINDS...LARGE HAIL AND TORNADOES IS POSSIBLE WITH ANY OF THE THUNDERSTORMS. PRECAUTIONS FOR SEVERE WEATHER IS STRONGLY ENCOURAGED AND SHOULD BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY. PERSONS IN MOBILE HOMES SHOULD HAVE A STORM SHELTER OR SECURE BUILDING PLACE TO MOVE TO IN CASE A WARNING IS ISSUED. SEVERAL FATALITIES AND NUMEROUS INJURIES OCCURRED IN A MOBILE HOME PARK EARLY THIS MORNING IN SOUTH ALABAMA. PLEASE KEEP UPDATED ON THIS DANGEROUS WEATHER SITUATION THROUGH TONIGHT AND THURSDAY MORNING.
Special weather statement, Mar 6, 5:19 PM CST, 4 hours 19 minutes before
ALZ021-026-027-028-029-070000- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 519 PM CST WED MAR 6 1996 THE TORNADO WARNINGS FOR CLEBURNE AND CLAY COUNTIES...AND THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY...HAVE BEEN CANCELLED. ALTHOUGH THERE WERE ISOLATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS IN THESE AREAS...THE STORMS HAVE DECREASED TO BELOW SEVERE LEVELS. A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR MOST OF ALABAMA UNTIL 6 PM CST. THE ATMOSPHERE IS STILL QUITE MOIST AND UNSTABLE...AND ADDITIONAL WATCHES WILL LIKELY BE ISSUED LATER TONIGHT.
Special weather statement, Mar 6, 5:21 PM CST, 4 hours 17 minutes before
ALZ021-026-027-028-029-070000- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 519 PM CST WED MAR 6 1996 THE TORNADO WARNINGS FOR CLEBURNE AND CLAY COUNTIES...AND THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY...HAVE BEEN CANCELLED. ALTHOUGH THERE WERE ISOLATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS IN THESE AREAS...THE STORMS HAVE DECREASED TO BELOW SEVERE LEVELS. A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR MOST OF ALABAMA UNTIL 6 PM CST. THE ATMOSPHERE IS STILL QUITE MOIST AND UNSTABLE...AND ADDITIONAL WATCHES WILL LIKELY BE ISSUED LATER TONIGHT.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 6, 6:10 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Marengo | 65 min |
| Mar 6, 7:12 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Sumter | 63 min |
| Mar 6, 7:24 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Franklin | 66 min |
| Mar 6, 7:35 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Greene | 40 min |
| Mar 6, 7:54 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Pickens | 51 min |
| Mar 6, 7:58 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Marion | 62 min |
| Mar 6, 8:03 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Franklin | 57 min |
| Mar 6, 8:11 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lawrence | 64 min |
| Mar 6, 8:16 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Sumter | 44 min |
| Mar 6, 8:21 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Tuscaloosa | 54 min |
| Mar 6, 8:30 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Madison | 60 min |
| Mar 6, 8:37 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lauderdale, Limestone | 68 min |
| Mar 6, 8:47 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Winston | 43 min |
| Mar 6, 9:14 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Tuscaloosa | 46 min |
| Mar 6, 9:15 PM CST | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Lauderdale, Limestone | 45 min |
| Mar 6, 9:15 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lauderdale, Limestone | 45 min |
| Mar 6, 9:16 PM CST | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Limestone | 3 hr |
| Mar 6, 9:19 PM CST | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Lauderdale, Limestone | 41 min |
| Mar 6, 9:19 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lauderdale, Limestone | 41 min |
| Mar 6, 9:21 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Montgomery | 39 min |
| Mar 6, 10:01 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Montgomery | 44 min |
| Mar 6, 10:36 PM CST | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Lowndes, Montgomery | 3 hr |
| Mar 6, 10:39 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Macon | 66 min |
| Mar 6, 11:16 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lee | 44 min |
| Mar 6, 11:46 PM CST | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Bibb, Shelby | 2 hr |
| Mar 7, 1:58 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Bibb, Shelby | 3 hr |
| Mar 7, 2:53 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Talladega | 3 hr |
| Mar 7, 5:01 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Shelby | 3 hr |
| Mar 7, 7:02 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Talladega | 118 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.