Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1996
Tornado Warning 69, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Apr 20, 1996, 11:11 PM CDT for Jefferson County, Alabama. It was in force for 34 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 20, 1996, 11:11 PM CDT (04:11 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 20, 1996, 11:45 PM CDT
- In force
- 34 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Jefferson County, AL
The radar
The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 44 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:12 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.
Open the radar archive at this moment
The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 20, 11:27 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 50 | Graysville, 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 00:00Z, 4.2 hours before the alert went out and 43 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 210412 TORBHM ALC073-210445- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 1111 PM CDT SAT APR 20 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1145 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN CENTRAL ALABAMA ...JEFFERSON COUNTY AT 1109 PM CDT...ALABAMA POWER REPORTED A LOCK OUT ON POWER LINES OVER WESTERN JEFFERSON COUNTY. THIS MEANS THAT A TORNADO IS LIKELY OCCURRING. THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 45 TO 50 MPH. THIS WARNING REPLACES THE PREVIOUS WARNING. THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION. ACT QUICKLY. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROU|ND 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, 2 hours 5 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, 9:47 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Fayette | 43 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, 11:20 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.