Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 2004

Tornado Warning 69, NWS Birmingham, AL

December 9, 2004Pickens County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Dec 9, 2004, 6:28 AM CST for Pickens County, Alabama. It was in force for 32 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
Dec 9, 2004, 6:28 AM CST (12:28 UTC)
Expired
Dec 9, 2004, 7:00 AM CST
In force
32 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Pickens County, AL

The radar

The Columbus AFB radar (KGWX), 78 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 12:29 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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Dec 9, 4:45 AM CSTTornado WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 0.5 hours before the alert went out and 110 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 2004-12-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 267 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 2004-12-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 280 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
267 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-17 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
480 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
62 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
280 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
244 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS54 KBMX 091228
TORBMX
ALC107-091300-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
628 AM CST THU DEC 9 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  EAST CENTRAL PICKENS COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA

* UNTIL 700 AM CST

* AT 624 AM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO 8 MILES
  SOUTHWEST OF GORDO...OR ABOUT 13 MILES NORTHEAST OF ALICEVILLE...
  MOVING NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL OTHERWISE REMAIN OVER MAINLY RURAL AREAS OF THE
  INDICATED COUNTY.

HEAVY RAINFALL MAY OBSCURE THIS TORNADO. TAKE COVER NOW IF YOU WAIT
TO SEE OR HEAR IT COMING...IT MAY BE TOO LATE TO GET TO A SAFE PLACE.

LAT...LON 3329 8807 3313 8797 3318 8784 3342 8785

$$

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Dec 9, 5:57 AM CSTTornado WarningBMXPickens33 min
Dec 9, 6:08 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXGreene37 min
Dec 9, 6:13 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXPickens2 hr
Dec 9, 6:35 AM CSTTornado WarningBMXTuscaloosa40 min
Dec 9, 7:37 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXJefferson, Shelby113 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.