Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 2004

Tornado Warning 70, NWS Birmingham, AL

December 9, 2004Tuscaloosa County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Dec 9, 2004, 6:35 AM CST for Tuscaloosa County, Alabama. It was in force for 40 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, 6:35 AM CST (12:35 UTC)
Expired: Dec 9, 2004, 7:15 AM CST
In force: 40 min
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Tuscaloosa County, AL

The radar

The Columbus AFB radar (KGWX), 78 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 12:34 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
Dec 9, 4:45 AM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 0.6 hours before the alert went out and 88 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: 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 091235
TORBMX
ALC125-091315-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 715 AM CST

* AT 629 AM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO 7 MILES WEST OF
  ELROD...OR ABOUT 16 MILES NORTHEAST OF ALICEVILLE...MOVING
  NORTHEAST AT 50 MPH.

* OTHER LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO
  SAMANTHA.

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 3351 8782 3320 8782 3355 8735 3359 8742
      3360 8761 3352 8766

$$

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Dec 9, 5:57 AM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Pickens	33 min
Dec 9, 6:08 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Greene	37 min
Dec 9, 6:13 AM CST	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Pickens	2 hr
Dec 9, 6:28 AM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Pickens	32 min
Dec 9, 7:37 AM CST	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Jefferson, Shelby	113 min

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.