Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 7, NWS Birmingham, AL

January 30, 1996Bibb County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Jan 30, 1996, 6:17 PM CST for Bibb 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
Jan 30, 1996, 6:17 PM CST (00:17 UTC)
Expired
Jan 30, 1996, 7:00 PM CST
In force
43 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Bibb County, AL

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 38 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:21 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 0.3 hours before the alert went out and 38 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 00:00Z on 1996-01-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 297 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 00:00Z on 1996-01-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 202 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
297 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
506 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
44 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
202 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
253 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.3
Supercell composite
1.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBHM 310021
TORBHM
ALC007-310100-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
617 PM CST TUE JAN 30 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  700 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN CENTRAL ALABAMA
 
   ...BIBB COUNTY
 
AT 617 PM CST...RADAR INDICATED A DEVELOPING TORNADO MOVING INTO WESTERN
BIBB COUNTY IN THE TALLADEGA NATIONAL FOREST. THE TRACK WILL TAKE IT SOU
OF EOLINE AND CENTREVILLE. THE STORM SHOULD BE IN THE CENTREVILLE AREA
AROUND 640 PM. MOVEMENT WAS EAST AT 30 MPH.
 
 
 
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
Jan 30, 6:03 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXHale57 min
Jan 30, 6:08 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXGreene, Hale22 min
Jan 30, 6:49 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXPerry56 min
Jan 30, 7:03 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXShelby42 min
Jan 30, 10:02 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXClay, Randolph3 hr
Jan 30, 10:02 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXTalladega3 hr

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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.