Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 2000
Tornado Warning 137, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Dec 16, 2000, 1:57 PM CST for St. Clair County, Alabama. It was in force for 48 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
- Dec 16, 2000, 1:57 PM CST (19:57 UTC)
- Expired
- Dec 16, 2000, 2:45 PM CST
- In force
- 48 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction
County St. Clair County, AL
The radar
The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 74 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:59 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 16, 2:20 PM CST | Tornado F2 | Ashville, AL | In St. Clair County, an F2 tornado track extended from near Cool Springs to south of Ashville to near Gum Springs Church. The total track was 8.5 miles long and about 200 yards wide at its widest point. The tornado began at 220 PM on County Road 31, just west |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 16, 10:15 AM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 8.0 hours before the alert went out and 74 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
- 48 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -269 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 466 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 68 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 531 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 563 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 2.2
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
WFUS54 KBMX 161957
TORBHM
ALC115-162045-
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
157 PM CST SAT DEC 16 2000
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
ST. CLAIR COUNTY IN CENTRAL ALABAMA
* UNTIL 245 PM CST
* AT 153 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
TORNADO 16 MILES SOUTHWEST OF ARGO...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 50 MPH.
* LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO INCLUDE...STEELE...
SPRINGVILLE...ODENVILLE...MARGARET...ASHVILLE AND ARGO.
THIS IS AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AND LIFE THREATENING TORNADO. EVACUATE
MOBILE HOMES...GO TO A STURDY BUILDING. MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON
THE LOWEST FLOOR. STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.
A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 400 PM CST SATURDAY AFTERNOON
FOR ALABAMA. A TORNADO WATCH ALSO REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 400 PM CST
SATURDAY AFTERNOON FOR SOUTHEASTERN ALABAMA AND SOUTHWESTERN GEORGIA.
LAT...LON 3377 8662 3372 8652 3359 8655 3387 8609
3397 8628The office that day
Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 16, 1:21 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Perry | 29 min |
| Dec 16, 1:48 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Perry | 27 min |
| Dec 16, 2:03 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Bibb | 42 min |
| Dec 16, 2:30 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Jefferson | 45 min |
| Dec 16, 3:07 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Blount | 38 min |
| Dec 16, 3:22 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Cullman | 23 min |
| Dec 16, 11:00 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Colbert, Lauderdale | 45 min |
| Dec 16, 11:17 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Marion | 28 min |
| Dec 16, 11:28 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Franklin | 47 min |
| Dec 16, 11:48 AM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Sumter | 42 min |
| Dec 16, 11:49 AM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Franklin | 26 min |
| Dec 16, 11:54 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Marion | 51 min |
| Dec 16, 12:01 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lawrence | 29 min |
| Dec 16, 12:14 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Franklin | 31 min |
| Dec 16, 12:17 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Greene | 43 min |
| Dec 16, 12:20 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Lawrence | 25 min |
| Dec 16, 12:25 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Barbour | 35 min |
| Dec 16, 12:26 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Madison | 49 min |
| Dec 16, 12:28 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Limestone | 32 min |
| Dec 16, 12:40 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Tuscaloosa | 50 min |
| Dec 16, 12:58 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Perry | 47 min |
| Dec 16, 1:14 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Limestone, Madison, Morgan | 46 min |
| Dec 16, 1:17 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Jefferson | 58 min |
| Dec 16, 1:24 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Dallas | 36 min |
| Dec 16, 1:33 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Chilton | 42 min |
| Dec 16, 1:59 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Blount | 46 min |
| Dec 16, 2:01 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lawrence | 29 min |
| Dec 16, 2:09 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Coosa | 36 min |
| Dec 16, 2:20 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Etowah | 40 min |
| Dec 16, 2:26 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Limestone | 34 min |
| Dec 16, 2:31 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Colbert, Franklin | 44 min |
| Dec 16, 2:33 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lamar, Marion | 27 min |
| Dec 16, 2:50 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Cherokee | 40 min |
| Dec 16, 2:51 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lauderdale | 24 min |
| Dec 16, 2:53 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Hale, Perry | 37 min |
| Dec 16, 2:57 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | DeKalb | 33 min |
| Dec 16, 3:02 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Marion | 13 min |
| Dec 16, 3:10 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Bibb | 35 min |
| Dec 16, 3:16 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Calhoun | 29 min |
| Dec 16, 3:24 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Calhoun, Cleburne | 36 min |
| Dec 16, 3:26 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lawrence, Limestone, Morgan | 34 min |
| Dec 16, 3:37 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Fayette, Walker | 23 min |
| Dec 16, 3:37 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Winston | 23 min |
| Dec 16, 3:41 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Shelby | 49 min |
| Dec 16, 3:46 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Cullman, Morgan | 44 min |
| Dec 16, 3:52 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Madison | 38 min |
| Dec 16, 4:06 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Morgan | 24 min |
| Dec 16, 4:23 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | St. Clair, Talladega | 37 min |
| Dec 16, 4:24 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Jefferson | 36 min |
| Dec 16, 4:25 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Madison | 20 min |
| Dec 16, 4:30 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Jackson | 45 min |
| Dec 16, 4:33 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Autauga | 42 min |
| Dec 16, 4:34 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Calhoun | 41 min |
| Dec 16, 4:41 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lowndes | 49 min |
| Dec 16, 4:44 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Marshall | 31 min |
| Dec 16, 4:54 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Elmore | 66 min |
| Dec 16, 5:03 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Cherokee | 27 min |
| Dec 16, 5:06 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Montgomery | 54 min |
| Dec 16, 5:09 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Jackson | 36 min |
| Dec 16, 5:11 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Shelby | 49 min |
| Dec 16, 5:22 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Coosa | 23 min |
| Dec 16, 5:24 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | DeKalb | 51 min |
| Dec 16, 5:26 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Montgomery | 49 min |
| Dec 16, 5:33 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Tallapoosa | 42 min |
| Dec 16, 5:33 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Tallapoosa | 42 min |
| Dec 16, 5:38 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | St. Clair | 37 min |
| Dec 16, 5:38 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Bullock, Macon | 37 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.