Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 9, NWS Birmingham, AL

January 30, 1996Shelby County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Jan 30, 1996, 7:03 PM CST for Shelby County, Alabama. It was in force for 42 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, 7:03 PM CST (01:03 UTC)
Expired
Jan 30, 1996, 7:45 PM CST
In force
42 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Shelby County, AL

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 14 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:07 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, 1.1 hours before the alert went out and 14 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 310106
TORBHM
ALC117-310145-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
703 PM CST TUE JAN 30 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  745 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN CENTRAL ALABAMA
 
   ...SOUTHERN SHELBY COUNTY
 
AT 703 PM CST...RADAR INDICATED A DEVELOPING TORNADO OVER SOUTHWEST
SHELBY COUNTY NEAR MONTEVALLO. THIS STORM WILL TRACK EAST AT 35 MPH...
AND SHOULD BE NEAR CALERA BY 715 PM...AND SHELBY BY 730 PM.
 
 
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION.  ACT QUICKLY.  IF YOU ARE
IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND 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.

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, 6:17 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXBibb43 min
Jan 30, 6:49 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXPerry56 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.