Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1996
Tornado Warning 64, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Apr 20, 1996, 5:17 PM CDT for Sumter County, Alabama. It was in force for 28 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, 5:17 PM CDT (22:17 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 20, 1996, 5:45 PM CDT
- In force
- 28 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Sumter County, AL
The nearest sounding before it
Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 10.3 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
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KBHM 202217 TORBHM ALC119-202245- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 517 PM CDT SAT APR 20 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 545 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA ...SUMTER COUNTY AT 516 PM CDT...RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH A DEVELOPING TORNADO OVER NORTHERN SUMTER COUNTY...BETWEEN GAINESVILLE AND GEIGER. THIS STORM AND TORNADO WILL BE MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH...AND WILL MOVE INTO THE GAINESVILLE AREA BEFORE 545 PM. 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 20, 1:04 PM CDT, 4 hours 13 minutes before
ALZ001>011-013-016-201900- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 100 PM CDT SAT APR 20 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS CANCELLED THE LAKE WIND ADVISORY WHICH WAS IN EFFECT FOR THE NORTHERN QUARTER OF ALABAMA FOR THIS AFTERNOON. WINDS HAVE SUBSIDED ACROSS MOST OF THE TENNESSEE VALLEY EARLY THIS AFTERNOON...IN THE WAKE OF THE THUNDERSTORMS WHICH MOVED ACROSS THE AREA EARLIER IN THE DAY. AS A RESULT...THE LAKE WIND ADVISORY HAS BEEN CANCELLED. THROUGH THE REST OF THE AFTERNOON...WINDS ACROSS THE EXTREME NORTHERN SECTION OF THE STATE WILL FOR THE MOST PART BE VARIABLE IN DIRECTION AT SPEEDS OF 10 TO 20 MPH. WHILE WINDS OVER MOST OF THE TENNESSEE VALLEY HAVE SUBSIDED... THUNDERSTORMS DO REMAIN OVER EXTREME NORTHEAST ALABAMA...AND A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS OVER THE EXTREME NORTHEAST CORNER OF THE STATE TIL 600 PM. SOME OF THESE STORMS MAY BRIEFLY PRODUCE STRONG GUSTY WINDS. ALL PERSONS.h..ESPECIALLY BOATERS...IN THIS WATCH AREA SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR THE THREAT OF STRONG...POSSIBLY DAMAGING WINDS ASSOCIATED WITH THESE THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH THE AFTERNOON HOURS.
Special weather statement, Apr 20, 2:16 PM CDT, 3 hours 1 minute before
ALZ011>050-GAZ089-090-102-120-202120- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 216 PM CDT (316 PM EDT) SAT APR 20 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS CLEARED THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES FROM TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 201: LAMAR...PICKENS...SUMTER...CHOCTAW...MARENGO...HALE...GREENE... TUSCALOOSA...FAYETTE...WALKER...CULLMAN...JEFFERSON...SHELBY... BIBB...PERRY...MARSHALL...DEKALB...BLOUNT...ETOWAH...CHEROKEE... ST. CLAIR...CALHOUN...CLEBURNE...TALLADEGA...AND CLAY.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 20, 8:09 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Lauderdale | 66 min |
| Apr 20, 8:24 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Limestone | 66 min |
| Apr 20, 8:42 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Limestone | 63 min |
| Apr 20, 8:49 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Lawrence | 56 min |
| Apr 20, 8:53 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Jackson | 67 min |
| Apr 20, 8:59 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Madison | 61 min |
| Apr 20, 9:40 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Madison | 65 min |
| Apr 20, 9:47 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Colbert | 58 min |
| Apr 20, 9:50 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Colbert, Lauderdale | 55 min |
| Apr 20, 10:06 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Morgan | 69 min |
| Apr 20, 10:21 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Franklin | 69 min |
| Apr 20, 10:24 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Jackson | 66 min |
| Apr 20, 11:32 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Jackson | 3 hr |
| Apr 20, 11:33 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Pickens | 27 min |
| Apr 20, 11:53 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Jefferson | 52 min |
| Apr 20, 12:00 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Jefferson | 45 min |
| Apr 20, 12:05 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Limestone | 115 min |
| Apr 20, 12:06 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Pickens, Sumter | 54 min |
| Apr 20, 12:09 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Greene | 66 min |
| Apr 20, 12:24 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | St. Clair | 51 min |
| Apr 20, 12:32 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Etowah | 28 min |
| Apr 20, 12:33 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Shelby | 42 min |
| Apr 20, 12:36 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Cherokee | 54 min |
| Apr 20, 12:46 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Hale, Tuscaloosa | 44 min |
| Apr 20, 12:55 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Calhoun, Talladega | 50 min |
| Apr 20, 1:11 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Bibb | 64 min |
| Apr 20, 1:17 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Clay, Cleburne | 58 min |
| Apr 20, 1:21 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Perry | 54 min |
| Apr 20, 4:52 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Sumter | 38 min |
| Apr 20, 5:24 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Greene | 36 min |
| Apr 20, 5:45 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Pickens | 60 min |
| Apr 20, 6:00 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Greene | 30 min |
| Apr 20, 6:09 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Tuscaloosa | 66 min |
| Apr 20, 6:33 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Hale | 57 min |
| Apr 20, 6:45 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Pickens | 60 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.