Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 2001

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Birmingham, AL

February 16, 2001Madison County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Feb 16, 2001, 1:39 PM CST for Madison County, Alabama. It was in force for 51 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
Feb 16, 2001, 1:39 PM CST (19:39 UTC)
Expired
Feb 16, 2001, 2:30 PM CST
In force
51 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Madison County, AL

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Feb 16, 1:39 PM CSTTornado F0Huntsville, ALA small tornado described by eye witnesses as a smooth funnel touched down in northwest Huntsville. The damage began near the intersection of Capshaw Road and Wall Triana Highway. The tornado damage path extended nearly due east for some distance before turn

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
Feb 16, 1:15 PM CSTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 12:00Z, 7.7 hours before the alert went out and 152 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 2001-02-16Temperature 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 2001-02-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -98 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
802 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
80 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-98 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
125 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 161939
TORBHM
ALC089-162030-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
139 PM CST FRI FEB 16 2001

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  MADISON COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL ALABAMA

* UNTIL 230 PM CST

* AT 132 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO OVER MADISON...MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH.

* LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO INCLUDE...REDSTONE
ARSENAL...MOORES MILL...MADISON...HUNTSVILLE AND GURLEY.

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 TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 700 PM CST FRIDAY EVENING FOR
ALABAMA.

LAT...LON 3485 8684 3467 8684 3462 8632 3487 8631

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Feb 16, 1:21 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLimestone, Madison24 min
Feb 16, 1:34 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLamar, Pickens41 min
Feb 16, 1:56 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXJackson34 min
Feb 16, 1:57 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXGreene, Sumter48 min
Feb 16, 2:05 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFayette, Tuscaloosa40 min
Feb 16, 2:25 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXWalker50 min
Feb 16, 2:25 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXTuscaloosa35 min
Feb 16, 2:32 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXJefferson, Walker43 min
Feb 16, 2:39 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBibb, Jefferson, Shelby51 min
Feb 16, 2:40 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXWinston50 min
Feb 16, 2:45 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBlount, Cullman45 min
Feb 16, 2:53 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXHale37 min
Feb 16, 3:08 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMorgan37 min
Feb 16, 3:08 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSt. Clair52 min
Feb 16, 3:08 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXSumter52 min
Feb 16, 3:16 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXBlount, Cullman29 min
Feb 16, 3:16 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXPerry29 min
Feb 16, 3:22 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXEtowah, Marshall38 min
Feb 16, 3:26 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBibb64 min
Feb 16, 3:29 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXShelby, Talladega31 min
Feb 16, 3:32 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXChilton43 min
Feb 16, 3:33 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCalhoun42 min
Feb 16, 3:41 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCherokee, DeKalb64 min
Feb 16, 3:50 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXClay, Cleburne55 min
Feb 16, 3:58 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTalladega32 min
Feb 16, 4:11 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXCherokee, Cleburne34 min
Feb 16, 4:28 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXRandolph47 min
Feb 16, 4:36 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXChambers24 min
Feb 16, 5:09 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTallapoosa36 min
Feb 16, 5:23 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXChambers52 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.