Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1999
Tornado Warning 71, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Aug 25, 1999, 4:11 PM CDT for Dallas County, Alabama. It was in force for 34 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The outline the Iowa Environmental Mesonet reconstructed for it; the warning itself named whole counties, with what was reported inside it.
The facts
- Issued
- Aug 25, 1999, 4:11 PM CDT (21:11 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 25, 1999, 4:45 PM CDT
- In force
- 34 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction
County Dallas County, AL
The radar
The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 111 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 25, 4:45 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 55 | Minter, AL | Several trees and power lines were blown down in Minter. |
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 nearest sounding before it
Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 9.2 hours before the alert went out and 112 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
- 648 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -73 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 787 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 29 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 53 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 74 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.1
- Supercell composite
- 1.3
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KBMX 252112 RRA TORBHM ALC047-252145- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 411 PM CDT WED AUG 25 1999 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A... * TORNADO WARNING FOR... SOUTHERN DALLAS COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL ALABAMA. * UNTIL 445 PM CDT. * AT 406 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A THUNDERSTORM WITH A DEVELOPING TORNADO 6 MILES SOUTH OF ORRVILLE...OR ABOUT 16 MILES SOUTHWEST OF SELMONT-WEST SELMONT...MOVING EAST AT 15 MPH. IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED BUILDING. AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH OR LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS. THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR OTHER PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF THE BUILDING IN AN INTERIOR HALLWAY OR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET. USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO COVER YOUR BODY AND ALWAYS STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS. IF IN MOBILE HOMES OR VEHICLES...EVACUATE THEM AND GET INSIDE A SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...LIE FLAT IN THE NEAREST DITCH OR OTHER LOW SPOT AND COVER YOURR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS. LAT...LON 3232 8726 3215 8732 3205 8696 3226 8689
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, Aug 25, 10:21 AM CDT, 5 hours 50 minutes before
ALZ001>050-GAZ089-090-102-120-261400- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 1021 AM CDT WED AUG 25 1999 THE ALABAMA FOREST COMMISSION HAS ISSUED A FIRE ALERT TODAY FOR MOST OF NORTHWEST AND WEST-CENTRAL ALABAMA. RADAR SHOWED A LARGE AREA OF RAIN...AND SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS MOVING OVER PORTIONS OF CENTRAL ALABAMA THIS MORNING. A COLD FRONT STRETCHED FROM NEAR NASHVILLE TO MEMPHIS TO SHREVEPORT AND A MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIRMASS AHEAD OF THIS FRONT IS TRIGGERING THE THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY. THE COLD FRONT IS EXPECTED TO SLOWLY MOVE OVER THE NORTHERN ALABAMA THIS AFTERNOON AND INTO SOUTH ALABAMA TONIGHT. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ALONG...AND AHEAD OF THE COLD FRONT AS IT MOVES THROUGH THE STATE. A FEW OF THE STORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE PRODUCING DAMAGING WINDS AND HAIL. EMERGING MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS AND STORM SPOTTERS MAY NEED TO BE ACTIVATED THIS AFTERNOON IN NORTH ALABAMA AND THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT IN SOUTH ALABAMA. IN ADDITION...THE PUBLIC IS REQUESTED TO EXERCISE CAUTION DURING THE FIRE DANGER PERIOD AND TO HELP PREVENT FOREST AND GRASS FIRES. 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.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 25, 2:20 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Pike | 35 min |
| Aug 25, 3:30 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Hale, Marengo | 30 min |
| Aug 25, 4:43 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Dallas | 32 min |
| Aug 25, 5:11 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Marengo | 34 min |
| Aug 25, 6:37 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Etowah | 48 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.