Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 2001

Tornado Warning 42, NWS Birmingham, AL

October 13, 2001Dallas County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Oct 13, 2001, 2:33 PM CDT for Dallas County, Alabama. It was in force for 27 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: Oct 13, 2001, 2:33 PM CDT (19:33 UTC)
Expired: Oct 13, 2001, 3:00 PM CDT
In force: 27 min
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL
Area: Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

County Dallas County, AL

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Oct 13, 2:52 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 50 E	Safford, AL	A few trees were blown down in rural southwest 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 watch it was issued in

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

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Oct 13, 12:15 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 7.6 hours before the alert went out and 119 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: 185 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -20 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 592 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 233 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 264 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.2
Supercell composite: 2.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

700 
WFUS54 KBMX 131933
TORBHM
ALC047-132000-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
233 PM CDT SAT OCT 13 2001

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  DALLAS COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL ALABAMA

* UNTIL 300 PM CDT

* AT 229 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO 17 MILES SOUTH OF ORRVILLE...MOVING NORTH AT 55 MPH.

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

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

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 600 PM CDT SATURDAY EVENING
FOR SOUTHERN ALABAMA. A TORNADO WATCH ALSO REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL
600 PM CDT SATURDAY EVENING FOR NORTHWESTERN ALABAMA. A TORNADO WATCH
ALSO REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 600 PM CDT SATURDAY EVENING FOR
SOUTHEASTERN ALABAMA.

LAT...LON 3205 8747 3200 8727 3248 8703 3248 8736

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Oct 13, 1:48 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Greene, Pickens, Sumter	27 min
Oct 13, 2:03 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Greene, Pickens	27 min
Oct 13, 2:10 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Hale, Marengo, Perry	35 min
Oct 13, 2:59 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Dallas, Perry	46 min
Oct 13, 3:34 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Sumter	56 min
Oct 13, 3:38 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Pickens	52 min
Oct 13, 3:49 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Bibb, Perry	26 min
Oct 13, 3:57 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Lamar	48 min
Oct 13, 4:28 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Greene, Sumter	47 min
Oct 13, 4:32 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Pickens	28 min
Oct 13, 5:31 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Tuscaloosa	29 min
Oct 13, 5:49 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Fayette, Walker	41 min
Oct 13, 5:58 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Winston	32 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.