Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1996
Tornado Warning 50, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Mar 18, 1996, 9:10 PM CST for Clay County, Randolph County, Alabama. It was in force for 65 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, 9:10 PM CST (03:10 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 18, 1996, 10:15 PM CST
- In force
- 65 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Clay County, AL, Randolph County, AL
The radar
The Maxwell AFB radar (KMXX), 84 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:12 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.
The nearest sounding before it
Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 00:00Z, 3.2 hours before the alert went out and 108 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 190312 TORBHM ALC027-111-190415- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 910 PM CST MON MAR 18 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1015 PM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... IN EAST CENTRAL ALABAMA ...EASTERN CLAY COUNTY...RANDOLPH COUNTY AT 908 PM CST A TORNADO WAS LOCATED OVER NORTHERN TALLAPOOSA COUNTY AND WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH. THIS TORNADO WILL LIKELY PASS INTO EITHER EASTERN CLAY COUNTY OR SOUTHWESTERN RANDOLPH COUNTY GENERALLY BETWEEN THE TOWNS OF WADLEY AND MELLOW VALLEY. TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY! 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, 4 hours 15 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.Special weather statement, Mar 18, 8:10 PM CST, 1 hour before
ALZALL-190400- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 810 PM CST MON MAR 18 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS CANCELLED THE TORNADO WATCH FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN CENTRAL AND NORTH ALABAMA... JEFFERSON...SHELBY...BIBB...PERRY...DALLAS THE THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER HAS ENDED FOR THESE COUNTIES. THE AREA OF SEVERE STORMS HAS MOVED EAST OF THIS AREA AS A COLD FRONT MOVES INTO THE AREA.
Special weather statement, Mar 18, 8:15 PM CST, 55 minutes before
ALZALL-190400- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 810 PM CST MON MAR 18 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS CANCELLED THE TORNADO WATCH FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN CENTrRAL AND NORTH ALABAMA... JEFFERSON...SHELBY...BIBB...PERRY...DALLAS THE THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER HAS ENDED FOR THESE COUNTIES. THE AREA OF SEVERE STORMS HAS MOVED EAST OF THIS AREA AS A COLD FRONT MOVES INTO THE AREA.
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, 6:04 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Chilton, Coosa, Elmore | 56 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 |
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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.