Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2001

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 130, NWS Birmingham, AL

May 20, 2001Fayette County, Lamar County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 20, 2001, 7:48 PM CDT for Fayette County, Lamar County, Alabama. It was in force for 42 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: May 20, 2001, 7:48 PM CDT (00:48 UTC)
Expired: May 20, 2001, 8:30 PM CDT
In force: 42 min
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL
Area: Whole counties

Counties Fayette County, AL, Lamar County, AL

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 20, 7:54 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 55 E	Fayette, AL	A second thunderstorm, moving from west to east, moved across the southern portion of Fayette County downing trees and causing power outages. A large scoreboard at Fayette High School was destroyed by the wind. There were several reports of funnels clouds wi

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 nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 0.8 hours before the alert went out and 123 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: 3650 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -44 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1565 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 7 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 57 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.3
Supercell composite: 4.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WUUS54 KBMX 210049
SVRBHM
ALC057-075-210130-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
748 PM CDT SUN MAY 20 2001

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  FAYETTE COUNTY IN ALABAMA
  EASTERN LAMAR COUNTY IN ALABAMA

* UNTIL 830 PM CDT

* AT 748 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS FROM 17 MILES NORTHWEST OF FAYETTE TO
  MILLPORT...MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH.

* LOCATIONS IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THESE STORMS INCLUDE...BERRY.

STRONG DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN ARE LIKELY
WITH THIS STORM. TAKE COVER IN A STURDY SHELTER &UNTIL THE STORM
PASSES.

IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A STURDY BUILDING.
DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL AND HEAVY RAIN ARE ALL POSSIBLE. STAY
INSIDE...AWAY FROM WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Birmingham, AL wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at May 20, 3:00 PM CDT, 4 hours 48 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 20, 3:00 PM CDT, 4 hours 48 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM, AL
300 PM CDT SUN MAY 20 2001

125+KT JET PUSHING INTO THE N ROCKIES ON WEST SIDE OF TROUGH WILL
AMPLIFY UPPER PATTERN THROUGH THE SHORT TERM. SOUTHERN BRANCH
ANTICYCLONIC JET INTERACTING WILL AFOREMENTIONED DIGGING JET PRODUCES
BROAD DIFFLUENCE ACROSS CWA THROUGH TUE. MODELS GENERALLY AGREE ON
POSITION OF UPPER TROUGH BUT ETA SOLN FAVORED ATTM WITH RESPECT TO
CUT-OFF LOW DEVELOPMENT N OHIO VLY 48-60HRS. SERIES OF 500 MID LEVEL
SHORT WAVE TROUGHS TRAVERSE THE VICINITY THROUGH THE PERIOD. 1ST OF
NOTE ON LATEST SATELLITE IMAGES IN NE AR. MAIN THRUST OF THIS
ACTIVITY WILL STAY NORTH OF AL TN VLY REGION BUT MAY GRAZE N AL
TONIGHT. LATEST RADAR LOOPS INDICATE TSTMS DEVELOPING IN N MS ALONG
MOISTURE DISCONTINUITY WITH SLIGHTLY MORE STABLE CONDITIONS IN N AL
ATTM. 2ND SHORT WAVE DEVELOPS INTO N AR BY 06Z WITH VORT AXIS NEAR
MSL BY 12Z. ETA/AVN HAVE DIFFERENCES IN THESE FEATURES AS EXPECTED.
3RD..AND LAST BUT BY FAR NOT LEAST...WOULD BE THE VORT ASSOCIATED
WITH FULL LAT TROUGH MON NIGHT/TUE MORN. MONITORING THE CONVECTIVE
DEVELOPMENT IN AR CRUCIAL FOR POPS FIRST 12 HRS.

WAVY SURFACE BOUNDARY ACROSS THE TN AND OHIO VLYS WILL MOVE N AS
CONTINUED SW FLOW DOMINATES. A WEAK TROUGH APPARENT ALONG MOISTURE
CONTRAST IN SW AL SLOWLY DISSIPATES AS MOISTURE INCREASES AREAWIDE.
STRONG COLD FRONT PUSHES INTO MID MS VLY TONIGHT WILL SEVERAL WAVES
INDUCED ALONG THE FRONT. AVN FASTER THAN ETA WITH MOVEMENT ACROSS
THE AREA AND WILL TAKE A COMPROMISE...FRONT TO A CHA-BHM-MEI LINE
BY 09Z TUE.

MODEL GUIDANCE TEMPS CLOSE FIRST PERIOD AND ACCEPTED. WENT CLOSER TO
FWC MIN FOR PERIOD 3. TOOK A MIX OF FWC/MAV FOR HIS. MUCH COOLER
TEMPS ANTICIPATED TUE AND INTO THE EXTENDED. NO MENTION OF SVR
ATTM TONIGHT THRU MON NIGHT. THE UNCERTAINTY IS WITH TIMING AND
INTITIATION OF CONVECTION. BEST POPS NW AL TONIGHT. CHC POPS IN
STORE MOST AREAS MON ANzD LIKELY OR BETTER N AL MON NIGHT.

PRELIM NUMBERS...
HSV TE 067/080 063/070 049 75558
BHM EE 069/082 066/073 049 75258
MGM EC 069/087 069/076 051 75235=

.BHM...NONE.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 20, 5:27 PM CDT, 2 hours 21 minutes before

ALZ001>038-040>050-210100-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK - UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
527 PM CDT SUN MAY 20 2001

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR NORTH AND CENTRAL ALABAMA.

A STRONG THUNDERSTORM COMPLEX OVER NORTHEASTERN MISSISSIPPI WILL MOVE
EASTWARD INTO CENTRAL TENNESSEE AND NORTHERN ALABAMA THIS
EVENING.  CONDITIONS WILL BE FAVORABLE FOR ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORMS
TO DEVELOP OVER NORTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL ALABAMA LATE THIS EVENING
AND OVERNIGHT.  GIVEN THE DEGREE OF INSTABILITY...AND INCREASING
WINDS ALOFT...A FEW STORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE THIS EVENING
AND OVERNIGHT...WITH THE MAIN THREAT BEING STRONG STRAIGHT LINE
WINDS.

THE GREATEST THREAT FOR SEVERE WEATHER TONIGHT WILL GENERALLY BE
NORTH OF A LINE FROM VERNON...TO CULLMAN...TO SCOTTSBORO...AND MAINLY
IN THE 6 PM TO MIDNIGHT TIME FRAME.

EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS AND STORM SPOTTERS IN NORTHWEST
ALABAMA SHOULD REMAIN ALERT AND BE PREPARED FOR POSSIBLE ACTIVATION
LATER TONIGHT.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 20, 7:07 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Fayette, Pickens	23 min
May 20, 7:18 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Lamar	27 min
May 20, 8:25 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Fayette, Tuscaloosa	35 min
May 20, 8:59 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Tuscaloosa	46 min
May 21, 12:12 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Pickens	33 min
May 21, 12:16 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Tuscaloosa	44 min
May 21, 1:10 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Greene	20 min
May 21, 1:19 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Tuscaloosa	26 min
May 21, 2:03 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Tuscaloosa	27 min
May 21, 2:15 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Bibb	30 min
May 21, 2:50 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Bibb	10 min
May 21, 2:53 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Shelby	52 min
May 21, 4:56 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Jackson, Madison	34 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Alabama, 2001 Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2001

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.