Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 2001

Tornado Warning 17, NWS Birmingham, AL

March 2, 2001Dallas County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Mar 2, 2001, 5:03 PM CST for Dallas County, Alabama. It was in force for 42 min. No storm report in the archive falls 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.

The facts

Issued
Mar 2, 2001, 5:03 PM CST (23:03 UTC)
Expired
Mar 2, 2001, 5:45 PM CST
In force
42 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

County Dallas County, AL

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 95 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:05 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.

The watch it was issued in

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

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Mar 2, 2:00 PM CSTTornado WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 11.1 hours before the alert went out and 96 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 2001-03-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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 12:00Z on 2001-03-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 108 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
1 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
454 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
49 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
108 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
116 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.

338 
WFUS54 KBMX 022304
TORBHM
ALC047-022345-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
503 PM CST FRI MAR 2 2001

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  DALLAS COUNTY IN ALABAMA

* UNTIL 545 PM CST

* AT 500 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
  A DEVELOPING TORNADO JUST SOUTHEAST OF ORVILLE...MOVING EAST AT
  30 MPH.

* LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO INCLUDE...SELMONT-WEST
SELMONT AND SELMA.

IF YOU ARE NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM...TAKE COVER NOW. MOVE TO AN
INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. ABANDON MOBILE HOMES AND VEHICLES
FOR MORE SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. AVOID WINDOWS.

LAT...LON 3234 8721 3225 8719 3227 8686 3238 8683
          3249 8688

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 2, 3:14 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXMontgomery31 min
Mar 2, 4:50 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXDallas40 min
Mar 2, 5:24 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLee, Russell36 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Alabama, 2001Every tornado warning in 2001Tornadoes 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.