Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 2004

Tornado Warning 17, NWS Birmingham, AL

May 1, 2004Pickens County, Sumter County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at May 1, 2004, 6:22 PM CDT for Pickens County, Sumter County, Alabama. It was in force for 38 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 1, 2004, 6:22 PM CDT (23:22 UTC)
Expired
May 1, 2004, 7:00 PM CDT
In force
38 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Pickens County, AL, Sumter County, AL

The radar

The Columbus AFB radar (KGWX), 107 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:21 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 nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 11.4 hours before the alert went out and 148 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 2004-05-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 4 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 2004-05-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 13 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
4 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-112 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
508 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
13 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
33 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.

617 
WFUS54 KBMX 012332 CCB
TORBHM
ALC107-119-01000-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED...CORRECTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
622 PM CDT SAT MAY 1 2004
CORRECTED FOR EXPIRATION TIME OF WARNING

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHERN PICKENS COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA
  NORTHERN SUMTER COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA

* UNTIL 700 PM CDT

* AT 622 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO 5 MILES SOUTHWEST OF GEIGER...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

* LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO INCLUDE...COCHRANE AND
GEIGER.

THIS STORM SHOWS STRONG ROTATION AND MAY PRODUCE A TORNADO AT ANY
TIME. DO NOT WAIT. GO TO A SAFE PLACE NOW PUT AS MANY WALLS BETWEEN
YOU AND THE OUTSIDE AS POSSIBLE.

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

LAT...LON 3286 8853 3273 8838 3293 8824 3307 8813
          3314 8824

$$

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 1, 5:41 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMontgomery34 min
May 1, 5:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPerry29 min
May 1, 6:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXGreene33 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Alabama, 2004Every tornado warning in 2004Tornadoes 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.