Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 78, NWS Birmingham, AL

September 16, 1996Marion County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Sep 16, 1996, 7:08 AM CDT for Marion County, Alabama. It was in force for 52 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
Sep 16, 1996, 7:08 AM CDT (12:08 UTC)
Expired
Sep 16, 1996, 8:00 AM CDT
In force
52 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Marion County, AL

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 0.1 hours before the alert went out and 148 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 12:00Z on 1996-09-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 776 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 12:00Z on 1996-09-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 278 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
776 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-5 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
573 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
278 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
319 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.0
Supercell composite
6.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBHM 161209
TORBHM
ALC093-161300-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
708 AM CDT MON SEP 16 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  800 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTH ALABAMA
 
   ...MARION COUNTY
 
AT 707 AM CDT...WEATHER SERVICE RADAR CONTINUES TO INDICATE A POSSIBLE
TORNADO IN NORTHERN LAMAR COUNTY. THIS STORM IS MOVING EAST NORTHEAST AT
35 MPH AND WILL BE MOVING INTO MARION COUNTY BY 715 AM CDT. THE
STORM WILL PASS BETWEEN GUIN AND HAMILTON BY 730 AM CDT. PEOPLE IN
THE PATH OF THIS STORM NEED TO TAKE COVER NOW.
 
 
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
Sep 16, 6:45 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXLamar45 min
Sep 16, 7:40 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMorgan65 min
Sep 16, 7:47 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXWinston43 min
Sep 16, 8:14 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXLimestone46 min
Sep 16, 8:18 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCullman57 min
Sep 16, 8:27 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMadison63 min
Sep 16, 9:00 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMorgan45 min
Sep 16, 9:40 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarshall65 min
Sep 16, 9:49 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXMarshall56 min
Sep 16, 9:59 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJackson61 min
Sep 16, 10:11 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXDeKalb64 min
Sep 16, 2:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFranklin65 min
Sep 16, 2:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarion47 min
Sep 16, 2:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXColbert68 min
Sep 16, 3:12 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLauderdale, Lawrence63 min
Sep 16, 3:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSumter37 min
Sep 16, 4:05 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLimestone55 min
Sep 16, 4:22 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXBibb38 min
Sep 16, 4:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCullman48 min
Sep 16, 4:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMadison69 min
Sep 16, 4:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarshall, Morgan63 min
Sep 16, 4:50 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXChilton40 min
Sep 16, 5:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBlount43 min
Sep 16, 5:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFranklin69 min
Sep 16, 5:09 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXCullman2 hr
Sep 16, 5:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXDeKalb61 min
Sep 16, 5:29 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXBlount31 min
Sep 16, 5:31 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXChilton29 min
Sep 16, 5:34 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXDallas, Marengo, Perry41 min
Sep 16, 5:47 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXSt. Clair58 min
Sep 16, 6:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXAutauga45 min
Sep 16, 6:01 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXCoosa, Elmore44 min
Sep 16, 6:05 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCherokee40 min
Sep 16, 6:12 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXDallas33 min
Sep 16, 6:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXEtowah30 min
Sep 16, 6:16 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXCalhoun44 min
Sep 16, 6:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLowndes41 min
Sep 16, 6:35 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMontgomery55 min
Sep 16, 6:39 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXDallas36 min
Sep 16, 6:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXAutauga31 min
Sep 16, 6:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCoosa, Elmore45 min
Sep 16, 6:54 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXLowndes36 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.