Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 2000

Tornado Warning 120, NWS Birmingham, AL

November 8, 2000Shelby County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Nov 8, 2000, 11:58 PM CST for Shelby 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: Nov 8, 2000, 11:58 PM CST (05:58 UTC)
Expired: Nov 9, 2000, 12:30 AM CST
In force: 32 min
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL
Area: Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

County Shelby County, AL

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 8 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 06:00 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
Nov 9, 12:10 AM CST	Thunderstorm Wind 50 E	Saginaw, AL	A few trees were knocked down near Saginaw.

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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Nov 8, 11:30 PM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 6.0 hours before the alert went out and 7 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 158 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -33 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 603 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 261 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 382 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 1.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS54 KBMX 090558
TORBHM

ALC117-090630-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
1158 PM CST WED NOV 8 2000

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SHELBY COUNTY IN CENTRAL ALABAMA

* UNTIL 1230 AM CST

* AT 1155 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO 8 MILES SOUTHWEST OF MONTEVALLO...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30
  MPH.

* LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO INCLUDE...PELHAM...
MONTEVALLO...MEADOWBROOK...LAKE PURDY...INVERNESS...CHELSEA AND
ALABASTER.

NIGHTTIME TORNADOES ARE ESPECIALLY DANGEROUS. TAKE COVER NOW. IF YOU
WAIT UNTIL YOU CAN SEE OR HEAR IT COMING...IT MAY BE TOO LATE.

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 500 AM CST THURSDAY MORNING
FOR NORTHERN ALABAMA. A TORNADO WATCH ALSO REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL
500 AM CST THURSDAY MORNING FOR SOUTHWESTERN ALABAMA. A TORNADO WATCH
ALSO REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 200 AM CST THURSDAY MORNING FOR WESTERN
ALABAMA.

LAT...LON 3315 8698 3307 8689 3335 8648 3346 8668

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Nov 8, 8:00 PM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Jefferson	45 min
Nov 8, 9:31 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Lamar, Pickens	44 min
Nov 8, 9:44 PM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Greene, Sumter	46 min
Nov 8, 9:45 PM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Pickens	45 min
Nov 8, 9:49 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Marion	41 min
Nov 8, 10:00 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Colbert, Franklin, Lawrence	45 min
Nov 8, 10:17 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Fayette	28 min
Nov 8, 10:22 PM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Greene, Hale, Tuscaloosa	53 min
Nov 8, 10:24 PM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Fayette	36 min
Nov 8, 10:42 PM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Walker	33 min
Nov 8, 10:50 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Limestone, Madison, Morgan	40 min
Nov 8, 10:58 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Winston	32 min
Nov 8, 11:00 PM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Perry	30 min
Nov 8, 11:14 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Walker	31 min
Nov 8, 11:27 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Madison	33 min
Nov 8, 11:30 PM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Bibb, Perry	45 min
Nov 8, 11:37 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Jackson	38 min
Nov 8, 11:37 PM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Tuscaloosa	23 min
Nov 8, 11:52 PM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Fayette, Walker	23 min
Nov 8, 11:57 PM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Jefferson	33 min
Nov 9, 12:17 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Jackson	43 min
Nov 9, 12:27 AM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Shelby	33 min
Nov 9, 12:45 AM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Jefferson	30 min
Nov 9, 1:01 AM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	St. Clair	29 min
Nov 9, 1:31 AM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Perry	29 min
Nov 9, 1:56 AM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Etowah	34 min
Nov 9, 1:57 AM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	DeKalb	48 min
Nov 9, 2:23 AM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Cherokee	37 min
Nov 9, 2:52 AM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Dallas	38 min
Nov 9, 5:09 AM CST	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Jefferson	3 hr
Nov 9, 8:29 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Russell	46 min
Nov 9, 8:41 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Lee	34 min
Nov 9, 12:20 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Jackson	40 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Alabama, 2000 Every tornado warning in 2000 Tornadoes 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.