Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2001

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 18, NWS Birmingham, AL

February 9, 2001Tuscaloosa County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Feb 9, 2001, 5:23 PM CST for Tuscaloosa County, Alabama. It was in force for 52 min. 3 reports 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
Feb 9, 2001, 5:23 PM CST (23:23 UTC)
Expired
Feb 9, 2001, 6:15 PM CST
In force
52 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

County Tuscaloosa County, AL

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 82 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:14 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Feb 9, 5:48 PM CSTThunderstorm Wind 50 ETuscaloosa, ALTrees were blown down just northeast of Tuscaloosa.
Feb 9, 6:00 PM CSTThunderstorm Wind 55 ETuscaloosa, ALThe glass windows in front of the Home Depot were blown in and broken.
Feb 9, 6:05 PM CSTThunderstorm Wind 50 EBrookwood, ALTrees were blown down on SR 216 in Brookwood.

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 12:00Z, 11.4 hours before the alert went out and 81 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 12:00Z on 2001-02-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 2001-02-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 211 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
777 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
211 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
232 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

010 
WUUS54 KBMX 092323
SVRBHM
ALC125-100015-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
523 PM CST FRI FEB 9 2001

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  TUSCALOOSA COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA

* UNTIL 615 PM CST

* AT 520 PM CST...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS REPORTED 14 MILES WEST OF
  NORTHPORT...MOVING EAST AT 50 MPH.

* LOCATIONS IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE...TUSCALOOSA
AND HOLT.

STRONG DAMAGING WIND IS LIKELY WITH THIS STORM. TAKE COVER NOW. FIND
SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. AVOID WINDOWS...VEHICLES AND MOBILE HOMES.

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.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM. IF YOU ARE IN ITS PATH YOU SHOULD PREPARE
FOR DAMAGING WIND...IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH...AND LARGE HAIL. PEOPLE
OUTSIDE SHOULD MOVE TO SHELTER. STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

LAT...LON 3328 8794 3311 8788 3326 8719 3347 8727

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Feb 9, 5:04 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFayette, Walker26 min
Feb 9, 5:28 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCullman, Walker, Winston47 min
Feb 9, 5:58 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson62 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Alabama, 2001Every 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.