Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 94, NWS Birmingham, AL

October 18, 1996Lauderdale County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Oct 18, 1996, 12:37 AM CDT for Lauderdale County, Alabama. It was in force for 68 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
Oct 18, 1996, 12:37 AM CDT (05:37 UTC)
Expired
Oct 18, 1996, 1:45 AM CDT
In force
68 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Lauderdale County, AL

The nearest sounding before it

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 00:00Z, 5.6 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 1996-10-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 567 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 00:00Z on 1996-10-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 105 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
567 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-33 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1339 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
105 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
184 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.3
Supercell composite
2.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KHSV 180537
TORHSV
ALC077-180645-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
1237 AM CDT FRI OCT 18 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HUNTSVILLE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  145 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN NORTH ALABAMA
 
   ...LAUDERDALE COUNTY
 
AT 1235 AM CDT WEATHER SERVICE RADAR IN HUNTSVILLE INDICATED A POSSIBLE
TORNADO JUST NORTH OF FLORENCE IN LAUDERDALE COUNTY.
 
THIS STORM WAS MOVING EAST AT 40 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
fSUCH 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
Oct 17, 11:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLauderdale62 min
Oct 18, 12:03 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXColbert57 min
Oct 18, 12:57 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFranklin63 min
Oct 18, 1:01 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarion59 min
Oct 18, 1:12 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLawrence, Limestone48 min
Oct 18, 1:38 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLamar67 min
Oct 18, 1:45 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMorgan60 min
Oct 18, 2:14 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFayette61 min
Oct 18, 2:24 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXWalker66 min
Oct 18, 2:31 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPickens44 min
Oct 18, 2:47 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTuscaloosa58 min
Oct 18, 3:42 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSumter33 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.