Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2004

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 33, NWS Birmingham, AL

April 7, 2004Bibb County, Hale County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 7, 2004, 7:43 PM CDT for Bibb County, Hale County, Alabama. It was in force for 62 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Apr 7, 2004, 7:43 PM CDT (00:43 UTC)
Expired: Apr 7, 2004, 8:45 PM CDT
In force: 62 min
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Bibb County, AL, Hale County, AL

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 55 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:44 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

Did it verify

Not verified. The Iowa Environmental Mesonet's Cow found no qualifying storm report inside this severe thunderstorm warning while it was in force. That is not proof nothing happened: reports are thin where few people live.

Cow counts a report within 15 km of the polygon while the warning was in force: a tornado for a tornado warning; hail of 1 inch or more, a gust of 58 mph or more or wind damage for a severe thunderstorm warning; a flash flood report for a flash flood warning.

The watch it was issued in

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

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Apr 7, 6:50 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 0.7 hours before the alert went out and 54 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 2669 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 10 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 122 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.

838 
WUUS54 KBMX 080043
SVRBHM
ALC007-065-080145-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
743 PM CDT WED APR 7 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  BIBB COUNTY IN ALABAMA
  NORTHERN HALE COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA

* UNTIL 845 PM CDT

* AT 739 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 5 MILES WEST OF MERTZ...MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH.

* LOCATIONS IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE...BRENT...
CENTREVILLE AND LAWLEY.

LARGE HAIL...EXCESSIVE LIGHTNING...AND DAMAGING WINDS ARE LIKELY.
TAKE COVER IN A STURDY SHELTER UNTIL THE STORM PASSES.

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

LAT...LON 3300 8754 3285 8752 3285 8694 3308 8696

$$

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Birmingham, AL wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Apr 7, 7:37 PM CDT, 6 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 7, 7:37 PM CDT, 6 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
737 PM CDT WED APR 7 2004

.UPDATE...JUST UPDATED ZONES TO INCLUDE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH
FOR SOUTHWEST PARTS OF THE FORECAST AREA.

AT 730 PM CDT...TWO MAIN THUNDERSTORMS...ONE IN NORTHERN HALE COUNTY
AND ANOTHER IN SOUTHERN DALLAS COUNTY...WERE THE STRONGEST.
THE HALE COUNTY STORM WAS SLOWLY MOVING EAST TOWARD BIBB COUNTY WHILE
THE DALLAS COUNTY STORM WAS QUICKLY MOVING NORTHEAST.  BOTH STORMS
ARE CAPABLE OF UP TO QUARTER SIZE HAIL...THOUGH GUSTY WINDS MAY
OCCUR AS WELL...ESPECIALLY IN DALLAS COUNTY EARLY THIS EVENING.

EXPECT THE STORMS TO CONTINUE THROUGH THE EVENING...BUT WILL BEGIN
TO WEAKEN IN THE NEXT FEW HOURS.  THE STORMS WILL LIKELY AFFECT THE
CENTREVILLE...SELMA...AND MAPLESVILLE AREAS THROUGH 10 PM CDT.
LATER THIS EVENING...ANY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE AREA WILL
BE ISOLATED.
&&

.PRELIMINARY NUMBERS...

BIRMINGHAM 58 77 52 79 54 / 50 30 00 00
MONTGOMERY 58 78 53 80 55 / 50 30 00 00
&&

.BMX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IN
EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT CDT ROUGHLY SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 20 AND WEST
OF INTERSTATE 65.
&&

MBS/91

Hazardous weather outlook, Apr 7, 1:20 PM CDT, 6 hours 23 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
120 PM CDT WED APR 07 2004

ALZ011>015-017>050-072015-
AUTAUGA-BARBOUR-BIBB-BLOUNT-BULLOCK-CALHOUN-CHAMBERS-CHEROKEE-
CHILTON-CLAY-CLEBURNE-COOSA-DALLAS-ELMORE-ETOWAH-FAYETTE-GREENE-HALE-
JEFFERSON-LAMAR-LEE-LOWNDES-MACON-MARENGO-MARION-MONTGOMERY-PERRY-
PICKENS-PIKE-RANDOLPH-RUSSELL-SHELBY-ST CLAIR-SUMTER-TALLADEGA-
TALLAPOOSA-TUSCALOOSA-WALKER-WINSTON-
120 PM CDT WED APR 07 2004

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE COUNTIES SERVED BY THE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN BIRMINGHAM.

.DAY ONE (THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT)...

SCATTERED SHOWERS ALONG WITH SOME ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE
EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ACROSS THE AREA LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND
ESPECIALLY TONIGHT.  THESE STORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING
WIND GUSTS TO 35 MPH...FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND POSSIBLY SOME SMALL
HAIL.

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN (THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY)...

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT IS NOT
ANTICIPATED.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Apr 7, 7:34 PM CDT, 9 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM ALABAMA
734 PM CDT WED APR 7 2004

..TIME...   ...EVENT...     ...CITY LOCATION...      ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....     ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0620 PM     HAIL             7 SW NORTHPORT          33.14N 87.65W
04/07/2004                   TUSCALOOSA         AL   EMA
            PENNY SIZE HAIL IN ROMULUS 11 MILES SSW OF NORTHPORT

0632 PM     HAIL             11 SW NORTHPORT         33.15N 87.66W
04/07/2004                   TUSCALOOSA         AL   PUBLIC
            QUARTER SIZE HAIL IN ROMULUS

0631 PM     HAIL             7 SW NORTHPORT          33.15N 87.66W
04/07/2004                   TUSCALOOSA         AL   PUBLIC
            DIME SIZE HAIL REPORTED IN ROMULUS 11 MILES SSW OF
            NORTHPORT

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 7, 7:10 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Hale	35 min
Apr 7, 7:22 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Dallas	38 min
Apr 7, 7:58 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Dallas	17 min
Apr 7, 8:05 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Autauga	55 min
Apr 7, 8:35 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Chilton, Coosa	55 min
Apr 7, 8:42 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Chilton	48 min
Apr 7, 10:50 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Autauga	25 min
Apr 7, 11:11 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Autauga	34 min
Apr 7, 11:22 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Elmore, Montgomery	38 min
Apr 7, 11:59 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Elmore, Montgomery	31 min
Apr 8, 12:29 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Montgomery	31 min
Apr 8, 12:35 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Macon	40 min
Apr 8, 9:24 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Pike	36 min
Apr 8, 9:54 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Barbour	36 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Alabama, 2004 Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2004

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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.