Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1996
Tornado Warning 51, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Apr 14, 1996, 4:52 PM CDT for Sumter County, Alabama. It was in force for 38 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
- Apr 14, 1996, 4:52 PM CDT (21:52 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 14, 1996, 5:30 PM CDT
- In force
- 38 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Sumter County, AL
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 14, 5:27 PM CDT | Hail 0.75 | York, 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, 9.9 hours before the alert went out and 148 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
- 1269 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 31 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 31 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 72 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 142154 TORBHM ALC119-142230- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 452 PM CDT SUN APR 14 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 530 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA ...SUMTER COUNTY AT 4:50 PM WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO NEAR THE ALABAMA/MISSISSIPPI BORDER NEAR YORK. REPORTS OF TORNADOS ON THE GROUND HAVE BEEN REPORTED IN MISSISSIPPI. THESE STORMS ARE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH. RESIDENTS OF SUMTER COUNTY NEED TO TAKE ACTION IMMEDIATELY. POPULATED AREAS NEAR THE INTERSTATE FROM YORK...LIVINGSTON...AND EPES NEED TO BE PREPARED. 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
Special weather statement, Apr 14, 11:59 AM CDT, 4 hours 53 minutes before
ALZ011>050-GAZ089-090-102-120-141800- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 1155 AM CDT (1255 PM EDT) SUN APR 14 1996 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL FOR ALABAMA AND WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA TONIGHT... WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE COMING TOGETHER FOR WHAT COULD BE AN OUTBREAK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS PARTS OF ALABAMA AND WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA TONIGHT. UNDER PARTLY TO MOSTLY SUNNY SKIES...TEMPERATURES ACROSS MUCH OF THE REGION ARE EXPECTED TO CLIMB ABOVE 80 DEGREES THIS AFTERNOON. IN ADDITION...SOUTH WINDS WILL CONTINUE TO TRANSPORT MOIST AIR FROM THE GULF OF MEXICO INTO THE AREA. THIS WILL MAKE THE AIRMASS VERY UNSTABLE. A FEW STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MAY FORM IN THE UNSTABLE AIR IN THE HEAT OF THE AFTERNOON. ALTHOUGH A FEW OF THESE STORMS MAY PRODUCE HAIL OR GUSTY WINDS...THE BIGGEST THREAT OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL COME LATER TONIGHT. A DEEPENING LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM...LOCATED IN EASTERN KANSAS LATE THIS MORNING...WILL MOVE EASTWARD INTO MISSOURI BY LATE TONIGHT...WITH A COLD FRONT EXTENDING SOUTHWARD FROM IT. THIS COLD FRONT WILL HELP TO SET OFF NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS...SOME OF THEM LIKELY TO BE SEVERE. IN ADDITION TO DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL....OTHER ATMOSPHERIC PARAMETERS INDICATE THAT TORNADOES WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE. AT THIS TIME...IT APPEARS THAT THE GREATEST THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER WILL NOT BE UNTIL AFTER 6 PM IN WEST ALABAMA...AND AFTER 9 OR 10 PM IN EAST ALABAMA AND WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA. HOWEVER...IF THUNDERSTORMS NOW OCCURRING IN LOUISIANA AND ARKANSAS ACCELERATE EASTWARD...THEY MAY GET HERE BEFORE THESE TIMES. FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION ON THIS DEVELOPING WEATHER SITUATION... STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL RADIO OR TELEVISION BROADCASTS.
Special weather statement, Apr 14, 12:00 PM CDT, 4 hours 52 minutes before
ALZ001>050-GAZ089-090-102-120-141800- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...CORRECTED UGC NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 1155 AM CDT (1255 PM EDT) SUN APR 14 1996 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL FOR ALABAMA AND WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA TONIGHT... WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE COMING TOGETHER FOR WHAT COULD BE AN OUTBREAK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS PARTS OF ALABAMA AND WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA TONIGHT. UNDER PARTLY TO MOSTLY SUNNY SKIES...TEMPERATURES ACROSS MUCH OF THE REGION ARE EXPECTED TO CLIMB ABOVE 80 DEGREES THIS AFTERNOON. IN ADDITION...SOUTH WINDS WILL CONTINUE TO TRANSPORT MOIST AIR FROM THE GULF OF MEXICO INTO THE AREA. THIS WILL MAKE THE AIRMASS VERY UNSTABLE. A FEW STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MAY FORM IN THE UNSTABLE AIR IN THE HEAT OF THE AFTERNOON. ALTHOUGH A FEW OF THESE STORMS MAY PRODUCE HAIL OR GUSTY WINDS...THE BIGGEST THREAT OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL COME LATER TONIGHT. A DEEPENING LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM...LOCATED IN EASTERN KANSAS LATE THIS MORNING...WILL MOVE EASTWARD INTO MISSOURI BY LATE TONIGHT...WITH A COLD FRONT EXTENDING SOUTHWARD FROM IT. THIS COLD FRONT WILL HELP TO SET OFF NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS...SOME OF THEM LIKELY TO BE SEVERE. IN ADDITION TO DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL....OTHER ATMOSPHERIC PARAMETERS INDICATE THAT TORNADOES WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE. AT THIS TIME...IT APPEARS THAT THE GREATEST THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER WILL NOT BE UNTIL AFTER 6 PM IN WEST ALABAMA...AND AFTER 9 OR 10 PM IN EAST ALABAMA AND WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA. HOWEVER...IF THUNDERSTORMS NOW OCCURRING IN LOUISIANA AND ARKANSAS ACCELERATE EASTWARD...THEY MAY GET HERE BEFORE THESE TIMES. FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION ON THIS DEVELOPING WEATHER SITUATION... STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL RADIO OR TELEVISION BROADCASTS.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 13, 8:40 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Russell | 35 min |
| Apr 14, 4:20 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Sumter | 40 min |
| Apr 14, 5:12 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Greene, Pickens | 48 min |
| Apr 14, 5:35 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Hale, Perry | 40 min |
| Apr 14, 5:47 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Tuscaloosa | 58 min |
| Apr 14, 5:49 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Bibb | 56 min |
| Apr 14, 5:57 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Greene, Pickens | 33 min |
| Apr 14, 6:15 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Hale, Perry | 45 min |
| Apr 14, 6:23 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lowndes | 52 min |
| Apr 14, 6:41 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Bibb, Tuscaloosa | 34 min |
| Apr 14, 6:44 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Jefferson, Shelby | 61 min |
| Apr 14, 6:55 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Autauga | 35 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.