Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 2001

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Birmingham, AL

January 19, 2001Elmore County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Jan 19, 2001, 9:30 AM CST for Elmore County, Alabama. It was in force for 45 min. 1 report 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
Jan 19, 2001, 9:30 AM CST (15:30 UTC)
Expired
Jan 19, 2001, 10:15 AM CST
In force
45 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

County Elmore County, AL

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jan 19, 9:30 AM CSTThunderstorm Wind 50 EEclectic, ALTrees and power lines were knocked down in Eclectic.

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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Jan 19, 6:00 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 3.5 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 2001-01-19Temperature 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°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 2001-01-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 5 square meters per square second.1939587897117136Sfc1 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
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
491 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
78 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
5 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
105 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 
WFUS54 KBMX 191531
TORBHM

ALC051-191615-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
930 AM CST FRI JAN 19 2001

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  ELMORE COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL ALABAMA...THIS REPLACES THE SEVERE 
  THUNDERSTORM WARNING.

* UNTIL 1015 AM CST

* AT 925 AM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO 21 MILES SOUTHWEST OF ECLECTIC...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 50
  MPH.

* LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO INCLUDE...ECLECTIC.

THIS IS AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AND LIFE THREATENING TORNADO. EVACUATE
MOBILE HOMES...GO TO A STURDY BUILDING. MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON
THE LOWEST FLOOR. STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1100 AM CST
FRIDAY MORNING FOR SOUTHERN ALABAMA.

LAT...LON 3252 8623 3247 8590 3258 8591 3274 8598

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 19, 8:44 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLowndes46 min
Jan 19, 9:03 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMontgomery57 min
Jan 19, 9:12 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCoosa, Elmore33 min
Jan 19, 9:16 AM CSTTornado WarningBMXMontgomery44 min
Jan 19, 9:40 AM CSTTornado WarningBMXTallapoosa65 min
Jan 19, 9:51 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMacon39 min
Jan 19, 9:59 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXRandolph61 min
Jan 19, 10:00 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXChambers, Lee60 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.