Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 2004
Tornado Warning 29, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Sep 16, 2004, 9:41 AM CDT for Lee County, Alabama. It was in force for 34 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
- Sep 16, 2004, 9:41 AM CDT (14:41 UTC)
- Expired
- Sep 16, 2004, 10:15 AM CDT
- In force
- 34 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Counties, with a storm outline in the text
County Lee County, AL
The watch it was issued in
The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 16, 1:10 AM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 9 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 12:00Z, 2.7 hours before the alert went out and 112 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 417 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -12 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 590 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 42 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 277 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 424 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.8
- Supercell composite
- 4.2
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 WFUS54 KBMX 161441 TORBHM ALC081-161515- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 940 AM CDT THU SEP 16 2004 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... LEE COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL ALABAMA THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF OPELIKA * UNTIL 1015 AM CDT * AT 937 AM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO NEAR SALEM...OR ABOUT 10 MILES SOUTHEAST OF OPELIKA...MOVING NORTH AT 50 MPH. * THE TORNADO WILL OTHERWISE REMAIN OVER MAINLY RURAL AREAS OF THE INDICATED COUNTY. THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR OTHER PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF THE BUILDING IN AN INTERIOR HALLWAY OR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET. USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO COVER YOUR BODY AND ALWAYS STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS. IF IN MOBILE HOMES OR VEHICLES...EVACUATE THEM AND GET INSIDE A SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...LIE FLAT IN THE NEAREST DITCH OR OTHER LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS. A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 200 AM CDT THURSDAY MORNING FOR SOUTHERN ALABAMA. A TORNADO WATCH ALSO REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1000 AM CDT THURSDAY MORNING FOR SOUTHERN ALABAMA. LAT...LON 3251 8531 3256 8509 3272 8519 3272 8551 $$
The office that day
Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 16, 1:22 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Pike | 28 min |
| Sep 16, 1:56 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Barbour | 24 min |
| Sep 16, 2:04 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Pike | 26 min |
| Sep 16, 2:45 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Montgomery | 30 min |
| Sep 16, 4:01 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Barbour | 29 min |
| Sep 16, 4:34 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Russell | 26 min |
| Sep 16, 4:49 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Macon | 26 min |
| Sep 16, 5:13 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Elmore | 47 min |
| Sep 16, 8:38 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Russell | 37 min |
| Sep 16, 8:53 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Lee | 37 min |
| Sep 16, 10:11 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Autauga, Elmore, Lowndes, Montgomery | 4 hr |
| Sep 16, 10:22 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Russell | 23 min |
| Sep 16, 10:43 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Bibb, Chilton, Dallas, Hale, Perry, Shelby | 4 hr |
| Sep 16, 10:54 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Russell | 21 min |
| Sep 16, 10:57 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Barbour, Bullock, Chambers, Coosa, Lee, Macon and 3 more | 4 hr |
| Sep 16, 11:40 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Calhoun, Clay, Cleburne, Jefferson, Randolph, St. Clair and 2 more | 4 hr |
| Sep 16, 11:58 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Jefferson | 5 hr |
| Sep 16, 12:51 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Blount, Cherokee, Etowah, Walker, Winston | 4 hr |
| Sep 16, 2:50 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Chambers, Lee, Tallapoosa | 3 hr |
| Sep 16, 3:00 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Jefferson | 6 hr |
| Sep 16, 3:01 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Calhoun, Clay, Cleburne, Jefferson, Randolph, St. Clair and 2 more | 5 hr |
| Sep 16, 4:57 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Blount, Cherokee, Etowah | 3 hr |
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.