Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 2000
Tornado Warning 99, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Apr 20, 2000, 9:02 PM CDT for Cullman County, Alabama. It was in force for 28 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.
The facts
- Issued
- Apr 20, 2000, 9:02 PM CDT (02:02 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 20, 2000, 9:30 PM CDT
- In force
- 28 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Cullman County, AL
The radar
The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 107 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:02 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 20, 9:10 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 60 E | Hanceville, AL | A few power lines were knocked down and numerous power outages were reported in the Hanceville area. One building had the metal garage doors blown off. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 20, 8:35 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 3 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 2.0 hours before the alert went out and 106 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
- 641 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -128 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1373 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 58 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 189 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 253 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.3
- Supercell composite
- 4.8
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
012 WFUS54 KBMX 210203 TORBHM ALC043-210230- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 902 PM CDT THU APR 20 2000 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... CULLMAN COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL ALABAMA... * UNTIL 930 PM CDT. * AT 902 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A DEVELOPING TORNADO 12 MILES WEST OF GOOD HOPE...MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH. * SOME LOCATIONS IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE... HANCEVILLE AND GOOD HOPE. NIGHTTIME TORNADOES ARE ESPECIALLY DANGEROUS. TAKE COVER NOW IF YOU WAIT UNTIL YOU CAN SEE OR HEAR IT COMING...IT MAY BE TOO LATE.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 20, 8:19 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Morgan | 26 min |
| Apr 20, 8:38 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Cullman, Winston | 37 min |
| Apr 21, 12:11 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Clay, Coosa, Talladega | 34 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.