Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 2001

Tornado Warning 28, NWS Birmingham, AL

May 20, 2001Fayette County, Tuscaloosa County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at May 20, 2001, 8:25 PM CDT for Fayette County, Tuscaloosa County, Alabama. It was in force for 35 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: May 20, 2001, 8:25 PM CDT (01:25 UTC)
Expired: May 20, 2001, 9:00 PM CDT
In force: 35 min
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL
Area: Whole counties

Counties Fayette County, AL, Tuscaloosa County, AL

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 1.4 hours before the alert went out and 87 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.

446 
WFUS54 KBMX 210126
TORBHM
ALC057-125-210200-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
825 PM CDT SUN MAY 20 2001

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHERN FAYETTE COUNTY IN ALABAMA
  NORTHERN TUSCALOOSA COUNTY IN ALABAMA

* UNTIL 900 PM CDT

* AT 825 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO 8 MILES SOUTHWEST OF BERRY...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

* LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO INCLUDE...HOLT...BROOKWOOD
  AND BERRY.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM. IF YOU ARE IN ITS PATH...SEEK SHELTER NOW.
STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

NIGHTTIME TORNADOES ARE ESPECIALLY DANGEROUS. TAKE COVER NOW. IF YOU
WAIT UNTIL YOU CAN SEE OR HEAR IT COMING...IT MAY BE TOO LATE.

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, 7:48 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Fayette, Lamar	42 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

Tornado Warnings in Alabama, 2001 Every tornado warning in 2001 Tornadoes 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.