Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1999

Tornado Warning 68, NWS Birmingham, AL

June 2, 1999DeKalb County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Jun 2, 1999, 1:53 PM CDT for DeKalb 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
Jun 2, 1999, 1:53 PM CDT (18:53 UTC)
Expired
Jun 2, 1999, 2:25 PM CDT
In force
32 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County DeKalb County, AL

The radar

The Northeast Alabama radar (KHTX), 58 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:53 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 12:00Z, 6.9 hours before the alert went out and 168 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 12:00Z on 1999-06-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 560 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 12:00Z on 1999-06-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 66 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
560 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-71 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
941 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
66 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
15 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.

000 
TTAA00 KBHM 021855 RRA
TORBHM
ALC049-021925-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
153 PM CDT WED JUN 2 1999

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

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  DEKALB COUNTY... IN NORTHERN ALABAMA...

* UNTIL 225 PM CDT.

* AT 151 PM CDT... COUNTY OFFICIALS REPORTED A POSSIBLE TORNADO IN THE
  RAINSVILLE AREA.  WEATHER RADAR CONTINUED TO SHOW A SEVERE
  THUNDERSTORM JUST EAST OF THE RAINSVILLE AREA.  THE STORM WAS MOVING
  EAST NORTHEAST AT 20 TO 25 MPH.  THE STORM WILL AFFECT THE
  VALLEY HEAD...MENTONE...AND FORT PAYNE AREAS.

  THIS UPGRADES THE PREVIOUS WARNING.

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, Jun 2, 9:14 AM CDT, 4 hours 39 minutes before
ALZ001>050-GAZ089-090-102-120-030215-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
FOR NORTH/CENTRAL AL AND WEST CENTRAL GA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
914 AM CDT WED JUN 2 1999

A MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIRMASS WILL TRIGGER SCATTERED SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS TODAY...MAINLY ACROSS NORTHERN ALABAMA.  THE
THUNDERSTORMS WILL PRODUCE HEAVY RAINFALL AND GUSTY WINDS...BUT SHOULD
REMAIN BELOW SEVERE LIMITS.

ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL WILL
NOT BE NECESSARY.  THE HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR SOUTHWEST
ALABAMA... SEE PRODUCT BHMSPSMOB. FOR SOUTHEAST ALABAMA... LOOK AT
MIASPSTLH.  FOR MORE WEATHER INFORMATION VISIT OUR INTERNET SITE ON
THE WORLD WIDE WEB AT
HTTP://WWW.ACES.EDU/NWS/
Special weather statement, Jun 2, 9:14 AM CDT, 4 hours 39 minutes before
ALZ001>050-GAZ089-090-102-120-030215-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
FOR NORTH/CENTRAL AL AND WEST CENTRAL GA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
914 AM CDT WED JUN 2 1999

A MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIRMASS WILL TRIGGER SCATTERED SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS TODAY...MAINLY ACROSS NORTHERN ALABAMA.  THE
THUNDERSTORMS WILL PRODUCE HEAVY RAINFALL AND GUSTY WINDS...BUT SHOULD
REMAIN BELOW SEVERE LIMITS.

ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL WILL
NOT BE NECESSARY.  THE HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR SOUTHWEST
ALABAMA... SEE PRODUCT BHMSPSMOB. FOR SOUTHEAST ALABAMA... LOOK AT
MIASPSTLH.  FOR MORE WEATHER INFORMATION VISIT OUR INTERNET SITE ON
THE WORLD WIDE WEB AT
HTTP://WWW.ACES.EDU/NWS/

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 2, 12:52 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXMarshall33 min
Jun 2, 1:12 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTuscaloosa48 min
Jun 2, 1:22 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXMarshall18 min
Jun 2, 1:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson64 min
Jun 2, 1:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXDeKalb63 min
Jun 2, 1:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXShelby61 min
Jun 2, 1:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCherokee49 min
Jun 2, 1:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTuscaloosa48 min
Jun 2, 2:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSt. Clair63 min
Jun 2, 2:13 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXCherokee32 min
Jun 2, 2:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson33 min
Jun 2, 2:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTuscaloosa61 min
Jun 2, 3:04 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson61 min
Jun 2, 3:18 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXTuscaloosa3 hr
Jun 2, 3:21 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPickens64 min
Jun 2, 3:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTuscaloosa50 min
Jun 2, 4:33 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPickens47 min
Jun 2, 4:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXHale48 min
Jun 2, 5:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPerry64 min
Jun 2, 5:21 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPickens34 min
Jun 2, 5:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXGreene64 min
Jun 2, 5:41 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCullman49 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.