Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1999
Tornado Warning 72, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Aug 25, 1999, 4:43 PM CDT for Dallas County, Alabama. It was in force for 32 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, 4:43 PM CDT (21:43 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 25, 1999, 5:15 PM CDT
- In force
- 32 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), 119 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:46 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, 9.7 hours before the alert went out and 120 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.
532 WFUS1 KBHM 252144 TORBHM ALC047-252215- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 443 PM CDT WED AUG 25 1999 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A... * TORNADO WARNING FOR... SOUTHEASTERN DALLAS COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL ALABAMA. * UNTIL 515 PM CDT. * AT 443 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A THUNDERSTORM WITH A POSSIBLE TORNADO OVER SOUTH CENTRAL DALLAS COUNTY...OR ABOUT 17 MILES SOUTHWEST OF SELMONT-WEST SELMONT... MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 10 MPH. THIS EXTENDS THE TORNADO WARNING ISSUED EARLIER. 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 YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS. LAT...LON 3228 8715 3216 8731 3192 8708 3207 8689
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, 4:11 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Dallas | 34 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.