Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 76, NWS Birmingham, AL

May 28, 1996Lauderdale County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at May 28, 1996, 8:11 PM CDT for Lauderdale County, Alabama. It was in force for 64 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
May 28, 1996, 8:11 PM CDT (01:11 UTC)
Expired
May 28, 1996, 9:15 PM CDT
In force
64 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Lauderdale County, AL

The radar

The Columbus AFB radar (KGWX), 128 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:10 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

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 00:00Z, 1.2 hours before the alert went out and 167 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 00:00Z on 1996-05-29Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2991 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 00:00Z on 1996-05-29The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 150 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
2991 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-3 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
989 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
63 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
150 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
260 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
4.6
Supercell composite
16.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KHSV 290112
TORHSV
ALC077-290215-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
811 PM CDT TUE MAY 28 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HUNTSVILLE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  915 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN NORTH ALABAMA
 
   ...LAUDERDALE COUNTY
 
AT 810 PM CDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR IN HUNTSVILLE INDICATED
A POSSIBLE TORNADO JUST WEST OF THREET IN NORTHWEST LAUDERDALE COUNTY.
 
THE POSSIBLE TORNADO WAS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT AROUND 30 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 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
May 28, 7:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLauderdale58 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.