Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2004

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 73, NWS Birmingham, AL

May 31, 2004Shelby County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 31, 2004, 4:39 AM CDT for Shelby County, Alabama. It was in force for 66 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: May 31, 2004, 4:39 AM CDT (09:39 UTC)
Expired: May 31, 2004, 5:45 AM CDT
In force: 66 min
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Shelby County, AL

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 19 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 09:42 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.

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 31, 3:45 AM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 9.7 hours before the alert went out and 19 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: 1655 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -11 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1411 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 127 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 192 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.7
Supercell composite: 9.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

689 
WUUS54 KBMX 310939
SVRBHM
ALC117-311045-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
438 AM CDT MON MAY 31 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 545 AM CDT

* AT 438 AM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS FROM 12 MILES NORTHWEST OF VANDIVER TO
  9 MILES SOUTHWEST OF HELENA...MOVING EAST AT 50 MPH.

* LOCATIONS IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THESE STORMS INCLUDE...
ALABASTER...CALERA...CHELSEA...COLUMBIANA...HARPERSVILLE...
MONTEVALLO...OAK MOUNTAIN STATE PARK...PELHAM...VINCENT AND
WILSONVILLE.

WIND GUSTS UP TO 60 MPH CAN BE EXPECTED IN THE WARNED AREA. IF YOU 
ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM...MOVE TO A SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER.

A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT. REMEMBER...TORNADOES CAN DEVELOP
SUDDENLY FROM SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.

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.

LAT...LON 3351 8654 3335 8682 3324 8701 3309 8691
          3307 8656 3328 8644 3348 8640

$$

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 30, 11:54 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Marion	66 min
May 31, 12:53 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Winston	67 min
May 31, 12:57 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Lamar, Marion	48 min
May 31, 1:30 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Fayette	60 min
May 31, 3:12 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Pickens	48 min
May 31, 3:35 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Tuscaloosa	55 min
May 31, 4:03 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Jefferson	57 min
May 31, 4:50 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	St. Clair	40 min
May 31, 5:00 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Chilton	45 min
May 31, 5:07 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Talladega	53 min
May 31, 5:09 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Talladega	51 min
May 31, 5:10 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Talladega	50 min
May 31, 5:21 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Coosa	54 min
May 31, 5:29 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Clay	46 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.