Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 2000

Tornado Warning 23, NWS Birmingham, AL

February 18, 2000Pickens County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Feb 18, 2000, 8:43 PM CST for Pickens County, Alabama. It was in force for 62 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
Feb 18, 2000, 8:43 PM CST (02:43 UTC)
Expired
Feb 18, 2000, 9:45 PM CST
In force
62 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Pickens County, AL

The watch it was issued in

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

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Feb 18, 5:30 PM CSTTornado WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 2.7 hours before the alert went out and 122 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 00:00Z on 2000-02-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 120 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 00:00Z on 2000-02-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 128 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
120 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-29 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1455 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
128 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
229 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
3.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBMX 190246
TORBHM
ALC107-190345-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
843 PM CST FRI FEB 18 2000

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHERN PICKENS COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA...

* UNTIL 945 PM CST.

* AT 843 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADARS INDICATED A 
TORNADO 25 MILES WEST OF REFORM...MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH.  THIS STORM 
HAS ALREADY PRODUCED A TORNADO IN WESTERN LOWNDES 
COUNTY...MISSISSIPPI.

* SOME LOCATIONS IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE...   
STAFFORD...ETHELSVILLE AND REFORM.

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.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Feb 18, 7:03 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLamar, Marion57 min
Feb 18, 8:34 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFranklin, Lawrence41 min
Feb 18, 9:08 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXLawrence37 min
Feb 18, 9:18 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXMorgan27 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.