Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1996
Tornado Warning 41, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Mar 18, 1996, 6:04 PM CST for Chilton County, Coosa County, Elmore County, Alabama. It was in force for 56 min. 5 reports 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, 6:04 PM CST (00:04 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 18, 1996, 7:00 PM CST
- In force
- 56 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Chilton County, AL, Coosa County, AL, Elmore County, AL
The radar
The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 56 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:05 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, 6:24 PM CST | Hail 0.75 | Wetumpka, AL | |
| Mar 18, 6:52 PM CST | Tornado F1 | Eclectic, AL | |
| Mar 18, 6:53 PM CST | Hail 1.75 | Eclectic, AL | |
| Mar 18, 6:55 PM CST | Tornado F1 | Eclectic, AL | |
| Mar 18, 7:04 PM CST | Hail 0.75 | Goodwater, 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
Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 00:00Z, 0.1 hours before the alert went out and 186 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
- 143 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -4 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 709 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 61 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 114 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 188 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.4
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KBHM 190005 TORBHM ALC021-037-051-190100- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 604 PM CST MON MAR 18 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 700 PM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... IN CENTRAL ALABAMA ...SOUTHEASTERN CHILTON COUNTY...COOSA COUNTY ...NORTHWESTERN ELMORE COUNTY A TORNADO WAS LOCATED OVER NORTHEAST AUTAUGA COUNTY BETWEEN I-65 AND WADSWORTH MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH. IT WILL MOVE GENERALLY TOWARD THE TOWN OF SHELBY. 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 LOWEST 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
Local storm report, Mar 18, 4:55 PM CST, 1 hour 9 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, 6:01 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Jefferson | 59 min |
| Mar 18, 6:13 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | St. Clair, Talladega | 77 min |
| Mar 18, 6:30 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Clay, Tallapoosa | 60 min |
| Mar 18, 6:33 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Elmore | 57 min |
| Mar 18, 6:39 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Lowndes | 81 min |
| Mar 18, 6:52 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Tallapoosa | 53 min |
| Mar 18, 6:59 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Coosa | 31 min |
| Mar 18, 7:20 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Montgomery | 55 min |
| Mar 18, 7:23 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Chambers, Randolph | 67 min |
| Mar 18, 7:29 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Clay | 61 min |
| Mar 18, 7:35 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Chilton, Coosa | 55 min |
| Mar 18, 7:37 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Autauga, Dallas | 53 min |
| Mar 18, 7:44 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Elmore | 61 min |
| Mar 18, 8:16 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Montgomery | 29 min |
| Mar 18, 8:21 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Tallapoosa | 69 min |
| Mar 18, 8:58 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Chambers | 62 min |
| Mar 18, 9:10 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Clay, Randolph | 65 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.