Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2001

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 47, NWS Birmingham, AL

February 21, 2001Dallas County, Perry County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Feb 21, 2001, 5:44 PM CST for Dallas County, Perry County, Alabama. It was in force for 31 min. 2 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 21, 2001, 5:44 PM CST (23:44 UTC)
Expired: Feb 21, 2001, 6:15 PM CST
In force: 31 min
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL
Area: Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

Counties Dallas County, AL, Perry County, AL

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 107 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:48 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
Feb 21, 6:10 PM CST	Hail 0.88	Safford, AL	Nickel size hail fell just north of Safford.
Feb 21, 6:10 PM CST	Thunderstorm Wind 60 E	Safford, AL	A few buildings in Safford had minor to moderate roof damage. Several trees were blown down or snapped off in southwestern Dallas County.

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, 11.7 hours before the alert went out and 107 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: 173 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -26 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 492 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 56 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 122 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 136 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.

000 
WUUS54 KBMX 212345
SVRBHM
ALC047-105-220015-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
544 PM CST WED FEB 21 2001

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHERN PERRY COUNTY IN CENTRAL ALABAMA
  WESTERN DALLAS COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL ALABAMA

* UNTIL 615 PM CST

* AT 542 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 6 MILES SOUTH OF UNIONTOWN...MOVING EAST AT 25
  MPH.

* LOCATIONS IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE...RURAL WEST
CENTRAL DALLAS COUNTY AND RURAL EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN PERRY COUNTY.

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

LAT...LON 3246 8762 3228 8761 3226 8714 3248 8714

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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.