Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1999

Tornado Warning 37, NWS Birmingham, AL

April 15, 1999Marengo County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Apr 15, 1999, 1:36 AM CDT for Marengo County, Alabama. It was in force for 49 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
Apr 15, 1999, 1:36 AM CDT (06:36 UTC)
Expired
Apr 15, 1999, 2:25 AM CDT
In force
49 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Marengo County, AL

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Apr 15, 2:00 AM CDTThunderstorm Wind 55Dixons Mills, ALTrees were knocked down along US 43 near the Marengo-Clark County line. One home sustained minor roof damage.

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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Apr 15, 12:00 AM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 6.6 hours before the alert went out and 140 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 1999-04-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 1999-04-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 264 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
2269 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
59 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
264 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
501 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 150637 RRA
TORBHM
ALC091-150725-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
136 AM CDT THU APR 15 1999

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

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHERN MARENGO COUNTY... IN WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA...

* UNTIL 225 AM CDT.

* AT 134 AM CDT... WEATHER RADAR DETECTED A TORNADO...MOVING INTO
MARENGO COUNTY FROM NORTHERN CLARKE COUNTY.  THIS STORM IS MOVING
NORTHEAST AT 45 MILES PER HOUR.  PERSONS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM
SHOULD TAKE COVER NOW.


* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...DIXONS MILLS AROUND 155 AM.

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, Apr 15, 1:23 AM CDT, 13 minutes before
ALZ001>003-150640-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
123 AM CDT THU APR 15 1999

THE TORNADO WATCH HAS BEEN CANCELLED FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...

IN ALABAMA

   ...LAUDERDALE... COLBERT... FRANKLIN

THE STRONGER STORMS HAVE MOVED TO THE EAST AND SOUTH OF THE AREA.
ONLY SOME MODERATE RAINFALL WILL CONTINUE OVER THESE COUNTIES FOR THE
NEXT FEW HOURS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 15, 12:02 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSumter48 min
Apr 15, 12:19 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXSumter51 min
Apr 15, 12:54 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXGreene, Hale51 min
Apr 15, 1:16 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXWalker34 min
Apr 15, 2:05 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson35 min
Apr 15, 2:26 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXDallas49 min
Apr 15, 3:09 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXAutauga51 min
Apr 15, 3:14 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXDallas31 min
Apr 15, 3:20 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXLowndes60 min
Apr 15, 3:41 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTalladega34 min
Apr 15, 3:58 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMontgomery47 min
Apr 15, 3:58 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCalhoun47 min
Apr 15, 4:43 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBullock, Pike62 min
Apr 15, 5:48 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXBullock, Pike32 min
Apr 15, 5:55 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXBarbour60 min
Apr 15, 6:00 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXRussell35 min
Apr 15, 6:16 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXRussell34 min
Apr 15, 7:16 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBarbour49 min
Apr 15, 7:25 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXBarbour35 min
Apr 15, 8:09 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXJackson31 min
Apr 15, 11:12 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXChambers33 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.