Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1996
Tornado Warning 38, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Mar 18, 1996, 5:50 PM CST for Walker County, Alabama. It was in force for 40 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.
The facts
- Issued
- Mar 18, 1996, 5:50 PM CST (23:50 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 18, 1996, 6:30 PM CST
- In force
- 40 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Walker County, AL
The radar
The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 86 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:50 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.
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 18, 6:10 PM CST | Thunderstorm Wind 55 | Jasper, AL |
NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in.
The nearest sounding before it
Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 11.8 hours before the alert went out and 84 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 182351 TORBHM ALC127-190030- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 550 PM CST MON MAR 18 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 630 PM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN CENTRAL ALABAMA ...WALKER COUNTY WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A STRONG POSSIBILITY OF A TORNADO NORTHEAST OF JASPER MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MILES AN HOUR. FUNNEL CLOUDS HAVE ALSO BEEN REPORTED IN THIS AREA. 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 I S 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 18, 12:02 PM CST, 5 hours 48 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.
Local storm report, Mar 18, 4:55 PM CST, 55 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
330 PM CDT SUN APR 19 1995
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
452 PM FAYETTE AL HALF-INCH TO GOLF BALL
03/18/96 FAYETTE COUNTY SIZE HAIL COVERED THE GRND
IN FAYETTE...FROM NWS
EMPLOYEE.
436 PM MILLPORT AREA AL HAIL TO QUARTER SIZE, SOME
03/18/96 LAMAR COUNTY TREES DOWN, DAMAGE TO
ROOFS. HAIL BROKE SOME
WINDOWS.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, 4:28 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Lamar | 32 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, 5:54 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.