Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1999

Tornado Warning 31, NWS Birmingham, AL

March 3, 1999Pike County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Mar 3, 1999, 1:59 AM CST for Pike County, Alabama. It was in force for 31 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
Mar 3, 1999, 1:59 AM CST (07:59 UTC)
Expired
Mar 3, 1999, 2:30 AM CST
In force
31 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Pike County, AL

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Mar 2, 11:15 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 8.0 hours before the alert went out and 172 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 1999-03-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 25 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 1999-03-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 99 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
25 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-117 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2113 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
99 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
278 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

999 
WFUS1 KBHM 030758 RRA
TORBHM
ALC109-030830-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
159 AM CST WED MAR 3 1999

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED...A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHERN PIKE COUNTY... IN SOUTHEASTERN ALABAMA...

* UNTIL 230 AM CST.

* AT 157 AM CST... WEATHER RADAR DETECTED A TORNADO...IN THE
SOUTHEASTERN PART OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.  THE STORM WAS MOVING EAST
AROUND 45 MPH...AND WILL MOVE ACROSS THE NORTHERN PART OF PIKE COUNTY
BY 230 AM.

* COMMUNITIES IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE CHINA GROVE.

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

Special weather statement, Mar 2, 8:26 PM CST, 5 hours 33 minutes before
ALZ004>010-013>018-020-024>026-030300-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
826 PM CST TUE MAR 2 1999

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAS BEEN CANCELLED FOR THE FOLLOWING
COUNTIES...

IN ALABAMA

   ...LAWRENCE... LIMESTONE... MADISON... MORGAN... MARSHALL... JACKSON
   ...DEKALB... FAYETTE... WINSTON... WALKER... CULLMAN... BLOUNT
   ...ETOWAH... CHEROKEE... JEFFERSON... SHELBY... ST. CLAIR

THE AIRMASS OVER THIS REGION HAS BECOME MORE STABLE THIS EVENING.
ONLY GENERAL SHOWERS ARE EXPECTED THE REMAINDER OF THE NIGHT.
Special weather statement, Mar 2, 8:26 PM CST, 5 hours 33 minutes before
ALZ004>010-013>018-020-024>026-030300-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
826 PM CST TUE MAR 2 1999

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAS BEEN CANCELLED FOR THE FOLLOWING
COUNTIES...

IN ALABAMA

   ...LAWRENCE... LIMESTONE... MADISON... MORGAN... MARSHALL... JACKSON
   ...DEKALB... FAYETTE... WINSTON... WALKER... CULLMAN... BLOUNT
   ...ETOWAH... CHEROKEE... JEFFERSON... SHELBY... ST. CLAIR

THE AIRMASS OVER THIS REGION HAS BECOME MORE STABLE THIS EVENING.
ONLY GENERAL SHOWERS ARE EXPECTED THE REMAINDER OF THE NIGHT.
Special weather statement, Mar 2, 9:05 PM CST, 4 hours 54 minutes before
ALZ001>003-011-012-022-023-030340-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
905 PM CST TUE MAR 2 1999

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAS BEEN CANCELLED FOR THE FOLLOWING
COUNTIES...

IN ALABAMA

   ...LAUDERDALE... COLBERT... FRANKLIN... MARION... LAMAR... PICKENS
   ...TUSCALOOSA
Special weather statement, Mar 2, 9:05 PM CST, 4 hours 54 minutes before
ALZ001>003-011-012-022-023-030340-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
905 PM CST TUE MAR 2 1999

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAS BEEN CANCELLED FOR THE FOLLOWING
COUNTIES...

IN ALABAMA

   ...LAUDERDALE... COLBERT... FRANKLIN... MARION... LAMAR... PICKENS
   ...TUSCALOOSA
Local storm report, Mar 3, 1:39 AM CST, 20 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM
139 AM CST WED MAR 03 1999

TIME(CST)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0111 AM    MONTGOMERY                AL   74 MPH TSTM GUST
03/03/99   MONTGOMERY                     64 KT GUST AT MAXWELL AFB

0115 AM    BEECHWOOD                 AL   WIND DAMAGE
03/03/99   LOWNDES                        TREES AND POWERLINES
                                          DOWN...OUTBUILDINGS
                                          DESTROYED.  TIME
                                          ESTIMATED.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 2, 7:31 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSumter49 min
Mar 2, 7:54 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXGreene46 min
Mar 2, 8:25 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXHale30 min
Mar 2, 8:55 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBibb60 min
Mar 2, 8:58 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXHale17 min
Mar 2, 9:32 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXShelby48 min
Mar 3, 12:33 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXAutauga, Chilton, Dallas47 min
Mar 3, 12:49 AM CSTTornado WarningBMXAutauga31 min
Mar 3, 1:01 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXElmore, Lowndes, Montgomery49 min
Mar 3, 1:13 AM CSTTornado WarningBMXTalladega47 min
Mar 3, 1:24 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXClay31 min
Mar 3, 1:27 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMacon, Tallapoosa48 min
Mar 3, 1:37 AM CSTTornado WarningBMXMontgomery33 min
Mar 3, 1:45 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXChambers, Lee45 min
Mar 3, 1:46 AM CSTTornado WarningBMXBullock, Macon49 min
Mar 3, 1:57 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCleburne, Randolph33 min
Mar 3, 2:03 AM CSTTornado WarningBMXBarbour47 min
Mar 3, 2:09 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMacon31 min
Mar 3, 2:21 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXRussell49 min
Mar 3, 2:29 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXChambers, Lee31 min
Mar 3, 2:45 AM CSTTornado WarningBMXBarbour45 min
Mar 3, 3:12 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXRussell18 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.