Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 2004

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Birmingham, AL

February 5, 2004Tuscaloosa County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Feb 5, 2004, 5:53 PM CST for Tuscaloosa 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 outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Feb 5, 2004, 5:53 PM CST (23:53 UTC)
Expired
Feb 5, 2004, 6:45 PM CST
In force
52 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Tuscaloosa County, AL

The watch it was issued in

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

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Feb 5, 4:55 PM CSTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 11.9 hours before the alert went out and 87 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 2004-02-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 2004-02-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 742 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
908 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
53 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
742 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
1068 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.

000 
WFUS54 KBMX 052353
TORBHM
ALC125-060045-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
553 PM CST THU FEB 5 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  TUSCALOOSA COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA

* UNTIL 645 PM CST

* AT 549 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED 
A   TORNADO 19 MILES WEST OF SAMANTHA...MOVING EAST-NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH.

* LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO INCLUDE...SAMANTHA.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM. IF YOU ARE IN ITS PATH...SEEK SHELTER NOW.
STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

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

LAT...LON 3342 8783 3322 8776 3342 8734 3358 8762

$$

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Feb 5, 2:08 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXLamar, Marion4 hr
Feb 5, 5:16 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSumter44 min
Feb 5, 5:18 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPickens42 min
Feb 5, 5:24 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXPickens36 min
Feb 5, 5:38 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXPickens3 hr
Feb 5, 5:45 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFayette45 min
Feb 5, 5:51 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXGreene24 min
Feb 5, 5:58 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXPickens17 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.