Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2004

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 75, NWS Birmingham, AL

May 31, 2004Chilton County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 31, 2004, 5:00 AM CDT for Chilton County, Alabama. It was in force for 45 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, 5:00 AM CDT (10:00 UTC)
Expired: May 31, 2004, 5:45 AM CDT
In force: 45 min
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Chilton County, AL

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 27 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 10:03 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, 10.0 hours before the alert went out and 28 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.

820 
WUUS54 KBMX 311000
SVRBHM
ALC021-311045-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 545 AM CDT

* AT 459 AM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS FROM 15 MILES NORTH OF JEMISON TO 11
  MILES WEST OF MAPLESVILLE...MOVING EAST AT 50 MPH.

* LOCATIONS IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THESE STORMS INCLUDE...CLANTON...
INGRAM AND THORSBY.

HAIL TO THE SIZE OF NICKELS AND 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.

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 3307 8684 3274 8693 3276 8653 3300 8653

$$

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, 4:39 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Shelby	66 min
May 31, 4:50 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	St. Clair	40 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.