Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 150, NWS Birmingham, AL

May 17, 2002Jefferson County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 17, 2002, 5:23 PM CDT for Jefferson County, Alabama. It was in force for 52 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 17, 2002, 5:23 PM CDT (22:23 UTC)
Expired: May 17, 2002, 6:15 PM CDT
In force: 52 min
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL
Area: Whole counties

County Jefferson County, AL

The watch it was issued in

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

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
May 17, 5:00 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 10.4 hours before the alert went out and 43 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: 204 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -46 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 747 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 30 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 7 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WUUS54 KBMX 172223
SVRBHM
ALC073-172315-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
520 PM CDT FRI MAY 17 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  JEFFERSON COUNTY IN ALABAMA

* UNTIL 615 PM CDT

* AT 518 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 6 MILES SOUTHWEST OF WEST JEFFERSON...MOVING   
EAST AT 40 MPH.  OTHER STRONG STORMS WILL ENTER THE
WESTERN SECTIONS OF JEFFERSON COUNTY AROUND 530 PM.  THESE STORMS 
WILL AFFECT THE CITY OF BIRMINGHAM AND CITY STAGES.  

* LOCATIONS IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE...ADAMSVILLE...
BIRMINGHAM...BRIGHTON...CARDIFF...CENTER POINT...FAIRFIELD...
FORESTDALE...FULTONDALE...GARDENDALE...HUEYTOWN...LIPSCOMB...
MIDFIELD...MINOR...MULGA...PINSON...PLEASANT GROVE...TARRANT AND
TRUSSVILLE.

STRONG DAMAGING WIND WILL KNOCK DOWN TREES AND POWER LINES...AND
DAMAGE BUILDINGS AND HOMES. TAKE COVER NOW. FIND SUBSTANTIAL
SHELTER...AVOID WINDOWS...VEHICLES AND MOBILE HOMES.

CALL 1-800-856-0758 TO REPORT SEVERE WEATHER.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 17, 4:32 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Marion	43 min
May 17, 4:33 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Lamar	27 min
May 17, 5:12 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Walker	33 min
May 17, 5:28 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Tuscaloosa	32 min
May 17, 5:53 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Bibb	37 min
May 17, 5:57 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Sumter	63 min
May 17, 6:33 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Shelby	27 min
May 17, 6:42 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Shelby	33 min
May 17, 6:50 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Tuscaloosa	40 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Alabama, 2002 Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2002

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.