Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1999

Tornado Warning 41, NWS Birmingham, AL

April 15, 1999Bullock County, Pike County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Apr 15, 1999, 5:48 AM CDT for Bullock County, Pike County, Alabama. It was in force for 32 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
Apr 15, 1999, 5:48 AM CDT (10:48 UTC)
Expired
Apr 15, 1999, 6:20 AM CDT
In force
32 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

Counties Bullock County, AL, Pike County, AL

The radar

The Ft Rucker radar (KEOX), 65 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 10:48 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, 10.8 hours before the alert went out and 163 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 151049 RRA
TORBHM
ALC011-109-151120-

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

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

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHEASTERN BULLOCK COUNTY... IN EAST CENTRAL ALABAMA...
  EASTERN PIKE COUNTY... IN SOUTHEASTERN ALABAMA...

* UNTIL 620 AM CDT.

* AT 546 AM CDT... WEATHER RADAR DETECTED A TORNADO OVER SOUTHEAST
BULLOCK COUNTY NEAR PEROTE AND A TORNADO IN EASTERN PIKE COUNTY NEAR
CATALPA.  THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING THESE DEVELOPING
TORNADOES WERE MOVING EAST AT 30 TO 40 MPH.


GO TO THE BASEMENT...OR A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR

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, 4 hours 25 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, 1:36 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXMarengo49 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, 5:55 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.