Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 57, NWS Birmingham, AL

April 20, 1996Lawrence County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Apr 20, 1996, 8:49 AM CDT for Lawrence County, Alabama. It was in force for 56 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
Apr 20, 1996, 8:49 AM CDT (13:49 UTC)
Expired
Apr 20, 1996, 9:45 AM CDT
In force
56 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Lawrence County, AL

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 1.8 hours before the alert went out and 157 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.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 1996-04-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 816 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 1996-04-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 229 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.
Mixed-layer CAPE
816 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-15 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
527 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
229 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
330 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.0
Supercell composite
5.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KHSV 201349
TORHSV
ALC079-201445-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
849 AM CDT SAT APR 20 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HUNTSVILLE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  945 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN NORTH ALABAMA
 
   ...LAWRENCE COUNTY
 
...TORNADO WARNINGS CONTINUE OVER LAUDERDALE COUNTY UNTIL 915 AM CDT AND
LIMESTONE COUNTY UNTIL 945 AM CDT...
 
AT 845 AM CDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE
TORNADO OVER NORTHERN LAWRENCE COUNTY.  THE STORM IS MOVING EAST
SOUTHEAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR.
 
 
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.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 20, 8:09 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXLauderdale66 min
Apr 20, 8:24 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLimestone66 min
Apr 20, 8:42 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXLimestone63 min
Apr 20, 8:53 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXJackson67 min
Apr 20, 8:59 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMadison61 min
Apr 20, 9:40 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXMadison65 min
Apr 20, 9:47 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXColbert58 min
Apr 20, 9:50 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXColbert, Lauderdale55 min
Apr 20, 10:06 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMorgan69 min
Apr 20, 10:21 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXFranklin69 min
Apr 20, 10:24 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXJackson66 min
Apr 20, 11:32 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXJackson3 hr
Apr 20, 11:33 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPickens27 min
Apr 20, 11:53 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson52 min
Apr 20, 12:00 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXJefferson45 min
Apr 20, 12:05 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXLimestone115 min
Apr 20, 12:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPickens, Sumter54 min
Apr 20, 12:09 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXGreene66 min
Apr 20, 12:24 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSt. Clair51 min
Apr 20, 12:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXEtowah28 min
Apr 20, 12:33 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXShelby42 min
Apr 20, 12:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCherokee54 min
Apr 20, 12:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXHale, Tuscaloosa44 min
Apr 20, 12:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCalhoun, Talladega50 min
Apr 20, 1:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBibb64 min
Apr 20, 1:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXClay, Cleburne58 min
Apr 20, 1:21 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPerry54 min
Apr 20, 4:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSumter38 min
Apr 20, 5:17 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXSumter28 min
Apr 20, 5:24 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXGreene36 min
Apr 20, 5:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPickens60 min
Apr 20, 6:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXGreene30 min
Apr 20, 6:09 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTuscaloosa66 min
Apr 20, 6:33 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXHale57 min
Apr 20, 6:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPickens60 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.