Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 2004

Tornado Warning 50, NWS Birmingham, AL

November 24, 2004Sumter County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Nov 24, 2004, 3:16 AM CST for Sumter County, Alabama. It was in force for 44 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: Nov 24, 2004, 3:16 AM CST (09:16 UTC)
Expired: Nov 24, 2004, 4:00 AM CST
In force: 44 min
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Sumter County, AL

The radar

The Columbus AFB radar (KGWX), 140 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 09:16 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
Nov 24, 12:45 AM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 9.3 hours before the alert went out and 151 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: 748 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -25 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 728 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 84 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 342 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.3
Supercell composite: 1.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS54 KBMX 240916
TORBMX
ALC119-241000-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
315 AM CST WED NOV 24 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SUMTER COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA
  THIS INCLUDES THE CITIES OF...YORK...LIVINGSTON

* UNTIL 400 AM CST

* AT 311 AM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO 17 MILES WEST OF
  YORK...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH.

* OTHER LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO
  GAINESVILLE...EPES AND CUBA.

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.

LAT...LON 3262 8840 3240 8842 3261 8806 3272 8810
      3284 8817

$$

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Nov 23, 7:21 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Lamar	54 min
Nov 23, 8:13 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Marion	62 min
Nov 23, 9:27 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Lamar, Marion	63 min
Nov 23, 9:48 PM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Lamar, Marion	42 min
Nov 23, 10:16 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Winston	59 min
Nov 24, 12:04 AM CST	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Marion	116 min
Nov 24, 12:43 AM CST	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Lamar	2 hr
Nov 24, 2:08 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Cherokee	22 min
Nov 24, 3:08 AM CST	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Lamar, Marion	3 hr
Nov 24, 3:19 AM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Pickens	56 min
Nov 24, 3:35 AM CST	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Jefferson, Tuscaloosa	3 hr
Nov 24, 3:40 AM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Greene	35 min
Nov 24, 3:47 AM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Marengo	58 min
Nov 24, 3:51 AM CST	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Cherokee, Etowah	3 hr
Nov 24, 4:31 AM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Dallas	44 min
Nov 24, 5:03 AM CST	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	St. Clair	3 hr
Nov 24, 5:14 AM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Dallas	31 min
Nov 24, 5:23 AM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Marengo	22 min
Nov 24, 5:37 AM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Autauga, Chilton, Dallas	38 min
Nov 24, 6:06 AM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Lowndes	24 min
Nov 24, 6:11 AM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Autauga	49 min
Nov 24, 6:19 AM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Chilton, Coosa	26 min
Nov 24, 6:20 AM CST	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Shelby	2 hr
Nov 24, 6:33 AM CST	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Jefferson	117 min
Nov 24, 6:41 AM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Elmore	49 min
Nov 24, 6:42 AM CST	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Cherokee, Etowah	3 hr
Nov 24, 6:44 AM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Coosa	31 min
Nov 24, 6:52 AM CST	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Blount	3 hr
Nov 24, 7:03 AM CST	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Calhoun, Talladega	3 hr
Nov 24, 7:04 AM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Calhoun, Talladega	41 min
Nov 24, 7:05 AM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Clay	25 min
Nov 24, 7:06 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Tallapoosa	39 min
Nov 24, 7:30 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Macon, Tallapoosa	30 min
Nov 24, 7:54 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Lee	51 min
Nov 24, 8:10 AM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Chambers, Lee	35 min
Nov 24, 8:12 AM CST	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Blount, Calhoun, Cherokee, Clay, Cleburne, Etowah and 4 more	4 hr
Nov 24, 11:55 AM CST	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Blount, Calhoun, Cherokee, Clay, Cleburne, Etowah and 4 more	4 hr
Nov 24, 3:59 PM CST	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Calhoun, Etowah, St. Clair	4 hr
Nov 24, 4:17 PM CST	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	St. Clair	4 hr

Nearby

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