Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 58, NWS Birmingham, AL

April 20, 1996Jackson County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Apr 20, 1996, 8:53 AM CDT for Jackson County, Alabama. It was in force for 67 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, 8:53 AM CDT (13:53 UTC)
Expired
Apr 20, 1996, 10:00 AM CDT
In force
67 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Jackson County, AL

The nearest sounding before it

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 12:00Z, 1.9 hours before the alert went out and 160 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 1996-04-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 32 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 1996-04-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -99 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
32 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-238 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
882 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
66 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-99 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
86 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KHSV 201355 COR
TORHSV
ALC071-201500-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING....CORRECTION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
853 AM CDT SAT APR 20 1996

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HUNTSVILLE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1000 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...

IN NORTH ALABAMA

   ...JACKSON COUNTY

AT 851 AM CDT RADAR AT HUNTSVILLE SHOWED A POSSIBLE TORNADO IN
NORTHERN JACKSON COUNTY NEAR HYTOP.

MOVEMENT WAS EAST SOUTHEAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR.

TORNADO WARNINGS CONTINUE FOR LAUDERDALE COUNTY TIL 915 AM AND
FOR LIMESTONE COUNTY UNTIL 945 AM CDT.


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, 8:49 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXLawrence56 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.