Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 74, NWS Birmingham, AL

May 27, 1996Limestone County, Madison County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at May 27, 1996, 5:03 PM CDT for Limestone County, Madison County, Alabama. It was in force for 57 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: May 27, 1996, 5:03 PM CDT (22:03 UTC)
Expired: May 27, 1996, 6:00 PM CDT
In force: 57 min
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL
Area: Whole counties

Counties Limestone County, AL, Madison County, AL

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 27, 5:12 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 55	Huntsville, 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

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 12:00Z, 10.1 hours before the alert went out and 150 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 1038 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -64 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1108 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 184 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 188 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.5
Supercell composite: 2.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KHSV 272205 RRA
TORHSV
ALC083-089-272300-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
503 PM CDT MON MAY 27 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HUNTSVILLE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  600 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONSS...
 
IN NORTH ALABAMA
 
   ...SOUTHERN LIMESTONE COUNTY...MADISON COUNTY
 
AT 503 PM CDT A FUNNEL CLOUD WAS MOVING ACROSS HUNTSVILLE
INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT.
 
MOVEMENT WAS EASTNORTHEAST AT 35 MILES AN HOUR.
 
 
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 CLOSEVT 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.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 27, 3:08 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Greene, Hale, Marengo	67 min
May 27, 4:06 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Perry	39 min
May 27, 4:12 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Madison	63 min
May 27, 4:41 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Limestone	64 min
May 27, 4:41 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Jackson	64 min
May 27, 4:45 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Madison	60 min
May 27, 4:52 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Morgan	68 min
May 27, 4:56 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Bibb	34 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Alabama, 1996 Every tornado warning in 1996 Tornadoes 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.