Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1996
Tornado Warning 32, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Mar 16, 1996, 1:34 PM CST for DeKalb County, Alabama. It was in force for 56 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 16, 1996, 1:34 PM CST (19:34 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 16, 1996, 2:30 PM CST
- In force
- 56 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
County DeKalb County, AL
The nearest sounding before it
Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 7.6 hours before the alert went out and 168 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
- 195 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -62 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 826 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 52 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 38 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 148 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.2
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KHSV 161933 TORHSV ALC049-162030- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL 134 PM CST SAT MAR 16 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HUNTSVILLE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 230 PM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... IN NORTH ALABAMA ...DEKALB COUNTY AT 130 PM CST WEATHER SERVICE RADAR IN HUNTSVILLE IN DICATED A TORNADO SOUTHWEST OF IDER AND NEAR VALLEY HEADMOVING EAST-NORTHEAST AT 30 MILES PER HOUR. 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 LOWE8ST 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, Mar 16, 1:25 PM CST, 9 minutes before
ALZ011>050-GAZ089-090-102-120-162030- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 125 PM CST (225 PM EST) SAT MAR 16 1996 AT 120 PM CST WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED STRONG STORMS EXTENDING SOUTH OF A LINE FROM RANDOLPH COUNTY...TO COOSA COUNTY...AND INTO DALLAS COUNTY. REPORTS OF GOLFBALL SIZE HAIL WERE REPORTED IN LOWNDES COUNTY NEAR PINTLALA. QUARTER SIZE HAIL WAS ALSO REPORTED IN LEE COUNTY NEAR SALEM. ANOTHER LINE OF SHOWERS AND POSSIBLE THUNDERSTORMS WAS DEVELOPING FROM WESTERN JEFFERSON COUNTY...NORTHEASTWARD INTO MARSHAL COUNTY. THE STORMS WILL BE MOVING EAST NORTHEAST AT 30 TO 40 MPH AS THE DAY PROGRESS. GUSTY WINDS...HAIL...HEAVY RAINS...AND DAMAGING WINDS MAY BE ENCOUNTERED WITH ANY OF THESE STORMS. THIS STORM ACTIVIY WILL CONTINUE INTO THIS AFTERNOON. PERSONS IN ALL OF ALABAMA AND WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATING WEATHER CONDITIONS AS THE DAY PROGRESSES.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 15, 6:35 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Madison | 55 min |
| Mar 15, 6:39 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lauderdale | 66 min |
| Mar 15, 6:51 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Limestone | 69 min |
| Mar 16, 12:03 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lowndes | 42 min |
| Mar 16, 12:14 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Montgomery | 46 min |
| Mar 16, 12:24 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lee | 51 min |
| Mar 16, 2:05 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Chambers | 25 min |
| Mar 16, 3:39 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Autauga | 51 min |
| Mar 16, 4:29 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Elmore | 31 min |
| Mar 16, 5:00 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Cleburne | 15 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.