Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1996
Tornado Warning 35, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Mar 18, 1996, 4:28 PM CST for Lamar County, Alabama. It was in force for 32 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 18, 1996, 4:28 PM CST (22:28 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 18, 1996, 5:00 PM CST
- In force
- 32 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Lamar County, AL
The nearest sounding before it
Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 10.5 hours before the alert went out and 139 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
- 1816 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 48 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 48 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 85 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 182230 TORBHM ALC075-182300- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 428 PM CST MON MAR 18 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 500 PM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA ...SOUTHERN LAMAR COUNTY AT 428 PM CST...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM PRODUCING LARGE HAIL AND A DEVELOPING TORNADO WAS LOCATED OVER SOUTHEAST LAMAR COUNTY JUST NORTH OF MILLPORT. THIS IS AN EXTENSION OF THE WARNING ISSUED ISSUED AT 339 PM. THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION. ACT QUICKLY. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF AVAILABLE. OTHER|WISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR POSSIBLE. AVOID WINDOWS. ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.
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 18, 12:02 PM CST, 4 hours 26 minutes before
ALZALL-GAZ089-090-102-120-FLZ001>015-190000- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 1200 PM CST (100 PM EST) MON MAR 18 1996 THE POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AS WELL AS TORNADOES CONTINUES ACROSS ALABAMA...PORTIONS OF NORTHWEST FLORIDA AND SECTIONS OF WESTERN GEORGIA THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER IN KANSAS CITY HAS PLACED MUCH OF THE AREA UNDER A HIGH RISK THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT FOR THE POSSIBILITY OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ALONG WITH SOME TORNADOES. THIS HIGH RISK REPRESENTS THE HIGHEST LEVEL OF CONCERN AND ALL RESIDENTS ARE URGED TO MONITOR LOCAL WEATHER FORECASTS THROUGHOUT THE REST OF THE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING AND BE SURE TO HAVE A SEVERE WEATHER ACTION PLAN READY. ...THE EXACT LOCATION FOR THE MOST ACTIVE SEVERE WEATHER HAS CHANGED SLIGHTLY...IT NOW APPEARS FROM CENTRAL ALABAMA SOUTH TO THE GULF COAST AS THE BEST SEVERE WEATHER AREA THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING. TENNESSEE VALLEY RESIDENTS SHOULD REMAIN ALERT TO WEATHER FORECASTS DURING THE NEXT 12 HOURS GIVEN THE PROXIMITY TO SEVERE WEATHER. THE FIRST TORNADO WATCH AREA HAS BEEN ISSUED. IT EXTENDS ROUGHLY ACROSS ALL CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI THIS AFTERNOON. A LOW PRESSURE AREA OVER NORTH LOUISIANA ALONG AN EXISTING FRONTAL BOUNDARY WILL CONTINUE TO INTENSIFY THIS AFTERNOON AND MOVE RAPIDLY EASTWARD INTO ALABAMA DURING THE EVENING. WARM MOIST UNSTABLE AIR ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF THIS FRONTAL BOUNDARY WILL SHIFT NORTHWARD THIS AFTERNOON AND CONDITIONS WILL BECOME VERY UNSTABLE ALONG THE PATH OF THE LOW PRESSURE AREA. IN TERMS OF TIMING...IT REMAINS THAT THE LATE AFTERNOON AND EVENING HOURS WILL PRESENT THE GREATEST DANGER FOR WIDESPREAD SEVERE WEATHER ACROSS THE AREA. AGAIN IT APPEARS THAT SOUTH CENTRAL AND ALL SOUTH ALABAMA LOOK TO BE AS THE FAVORED AREA FOR SEVERE WEATHER. EMERGENCY MANAGERS AND CITY OFFICIALS ACROSS THE AREA ARE URGED TO MAKE PLANS NOW FOR ADDITIONAL STAFFING AND OTHER RESOURCES. ALL RESIDENTS ARE URGED TO PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO THE WEATHER THROUGH TONIGHT AND TO ADJUST THEIR TRAVEL PLANS ACCORDINGLY. BE SURE TO HAVE A SEVERE WEATHER ACTION PLAN READY SHOULD A WARNING BE ISSUED FOR YOUR AREA.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 18, 3:39 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Lamar, Pickens | 51 min |
| Mar 18, 4:11 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Fayette | 64 min |
| Mar 18, 4:53 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Walker | 52 min |
| Mar 18, 5:02 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Marengo | 43 min |
| Mar 18, 5:09 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Chilton, Jefferson, Shelby | 51 min |
| Mar 18, 5:09 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Blount | 51 min |
| Mar 18, 5:09 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Autauga, Lowndes | 51 min |
| Mar 18, 5:41 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Cullman | 64 min |
| Mar 18, 5:44 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Dallas | 61 min |
| Mar 18, 5:49 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Autauga, Elmore | 56 min |
| Mar 18, 5:49 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Coosa | 56 min |
| Mar 18, 5:50 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Walker | 40 min |
| Mar 18, 5:54 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Autauga | 66 min |
| Mar 18, 5:56 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Cullman | 64 min |
| Mar 18, 5:57 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Shelby | 63 min |
| Mar 18, 5:59 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Blount | 61 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.