Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1999
Tornado Warning 18, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Jan 22, 1999, 5:03 PM CST for Madison County, Alabama. It was in force for 62 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
- Jan 22, 1999, 5:03 PM CST (23:03 UTC)
- Expired
- Jan 22, 1999, 6:05 PM CST
- In force
- 62 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Madison County, AL
The radar
The Northeast Alabama radar (KHTX), 46 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:02 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.
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 22, 5:40 PM CST | Thunderstorm Wind 55 | Huntsville, AL | Wind damage was reported from northeast of Capshaw in Limestone County to just south of Harvest in Madison County. The downburst knocked down several power lines and some fencing. Several roofs blown off of utility buildings and out-houses. |
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 watch it was issued in
The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 22, 12:45 PM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 12:00Z, 11.1 hours before the alert went out and 152 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 50 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -60 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 832 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 54 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 331 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 466 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
999 WFUS1 KBHM 222304 RRC TORBHM ALC089-230005- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 503 PM CST FRI JAN 22 1999 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... MADISON COUNTY... IN NORTHERN ALABAMA * UNTIL 605 PM CST * AT 501 PM CST... A TORNADO WAS DETECTED...BY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR...JUST WEST OF MADISON. THE STORM IS MOVING NORTHEAST AROUND 45 MPH. * TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...NEBO AND TONEY BETWEEN 5:20 AND 5:45 PM. IF YOU ARE IN A MULTIPLE STORY BUILDING...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM AWAY FROM WINDOWS.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this tornado warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
In the hours before
Local storm report, Jan 22, 2:39 PM CST, 2 hours 24 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM
339 PM CDT FRI JAN 22 1999
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0330 PM AL .88 INCH HAIL
01/22/99 PICKENS NICKEL SIZED HAIL IN
MCSHAN COMMUNITY...5 MILES
SE OF ETHELSVILLEThe office that day
Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 22, 1:12 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Colbert, Lauderdale | 48 min |
| Jan 22, 2:04 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lamar, Pickens | 61 min |
| Jan 22, 2:37 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Marion | 63 min |
| Jan 22, 2:45 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Fayette | 60 min |
| Jan 22, 2:51 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Fayette, Lamar | 49 min |
| Jan 22, 2:55 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Franklin, Marion | 65 min |
| Jan 22, 3:11 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Sumter | 49 min |
| Jan 22, 3:15 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Walker | 50 min |
| Jan 22, 3:21 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Colbert | 49 min |
| Jan 22, 3:26 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Lauderdale | 49 min |
| Jan 22, 3:29 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Pickens | 61 min |
| Jan 22, 3:32 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Winston | 48 min |
| Jan 22, 4:06 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Pickens | 49 min |
| Jan 22, 4:06 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Lawrence | 64 min |
| Jan 22, 4:14 PM CST | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Winston | 3 hr |
| Jan 22, 4:15 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Winston | 45 min |
| Jan 22, 4:17 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Morgan | 48 min |
| Jan 22, 4:24 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Fayette | 66 min |
| Jan 22, 4:28 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Limestone | 47 min |
| Jan 22, 4:49 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Marion, Walker | 36 min |
| Jan 22, 4:51 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Winston | 49 min |
| Jan 22, 4:58 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Morgan | 47 min |
| Jan 22, 5:03 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Limestone | 32 min |
| Jan 22, 5:05 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Tuscaloosa | 65 min |
| Jan 22, 5:20 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Tuscaloosa | 35 min |
| Jan 22, 5:23 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Lawrence | 47 min |
| Jan 22, 5:23 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Jefferson | 62 min |
| Jan 22, 5:27 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Colbert, Lauderdale | 48 min |
| Jan 22, 5:55 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Limestone, Morgan | 65 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Alabama, 1999Every tornado warning in 1999Tornadoes in 1999
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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.