Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1996
Tornado Warning 66, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Apr 20, 1996, 9:47 PM CDT for Fayette County, Alabama. It was in force for 43 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, 9:47 PM CDT (02:47 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 20, 1996, 10:30 PM CDT
- In force
- 43 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Fayette County, AL
The nearest sounding before it
Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 2.8 hours before the alert went out and 107 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
- 1416 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -57 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 837 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 45 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 270 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 358 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 12.7
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KBHM 210247 TORBHM ALC057-210330- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 947 PM CDT SAT APR 20 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1030 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA ...FAYETTE COUNTY A TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY RADAR OVER SOUTH CENTRAL FAYETTE COUNTY. THIS STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH AND WILL MOVE THROUGH THE CITY OF FAYETTE VICINITY. THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION. ACT QUICKLY. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF AVAILABLE. OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR POSSIBLE. AVOID WINDOWS. ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.
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, 9:06 PM CDT, 41 minutes before
ALZ040>045-047-054-210245- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 905 PM CDT SAT APR 20 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS CLEARED THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES FROM SEVERE STORM WATCH NUMBER 206: WILCOX...DALLAS...AUTAGA...LOWNDES...ELMORE...MONTGOMERY...MACON... AND LEE.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 20, 7:07 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Jefferson | 53 min |
| Apr 20, 7:28 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lamar | 62 min |
| Apr 20, 7:44 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Walker | 61 min |
| Apr 20, 7:52 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Blount | 53 min |
| Apr 20, 7:59 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Fayette | 46 min |
| Apr 20, 8:28 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Etowah | 47 min |
| Apr 20, 8:32 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lamar, Pickens | 58 min |
| Apr 20, 9:31 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Fayette | 59 min |
| Apr 20, 9:33 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lamar, Pickens | 57 min |
| Apr 20, 10:11 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Walker | 49 min |
| Apr 20, 10:17 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Tuscaloosa | 58 min |
| Apr 20, 10:28 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Madison | 62 min |
| Apr 20, 10:30 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Fayette | 30 min |
| Apr 20, 10:39 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Jefferson | 66 min |
| Apr 20, 10:42 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Cullman | 48 min |
| Apr 20, 10:54 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Blount | 66 min |
| Apr 20, 10:58 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Cullman | 47 min |
| Apr 20, 11:07 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Shelby | 68 min |
| Apr 20, 11:11 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Jefferson | 34 min |
| Apr 20, 11:20 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | St. Clair | 40 min |
| Apr 20, 11:33 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Blount | 42 min |
| Apr 20, 11:37 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Etowah | 53 min |
| Apr 20, 11:47 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Marshall | 58 min |
| Apr 20, 11:57 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Calhoun | 48 min |
| Apr 21, 8:41 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Morgan | 64 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.