Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 2000

Tornado Warning 104, NWS Birmingham, AL

May 20, 2000Blount County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at May 20, 2000, 6:04 PM CDT for Blount County, Alabama. It was in force for 26 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
May 20, 2000, 6:04 PM CDT (23:04 UTC)
Expired
May 20, 2000, 6:30 PM CDT
In force
26 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Blount County, AL

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 11.1 hours before the alert went out and 91 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 2000-05-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1362 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 2000-05-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 76 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
1362 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-16 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
541 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
29 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
76 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
38 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.4
Supercell composite
2.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

848 
WFUS54 KBMX 202305
TORBHM
ALC009-202330-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
604 PM CDT SAT MAY 20 2000

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHERN BLOUNT COUNTY IN CENTRAL ALABAMA...

* UNTIL 630 PM CDT.

* AT 604 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO OVER EXTREME
  EAST CENTRAL CULLMAN COUNTY...MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH.

* THIS STORM WILL MOVE ACROSS THE NORTHERN PART OF BLOUNT COUNTY...NEAR
  SUMMIT AND BROKKSVILLE.

IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A STRONG BUILDING. STAY
AWAY FROM WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 20, 5:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCullman47 min
May 20, 5:22 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPickens23 min
May 20, 5:26 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXCullman49 min
May 20, 5:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarshall68 min
May 20, 5:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPickens43 min
May 20, 6:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCleburne48 min
May 20, 6:39 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXCleburne51 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Alabama, 2000Every tornado warning in 2000Tornadoes in 2000

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.