Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 2005

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Birmingham, AL

March 13, 2005St. Clair County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Mar 13, 2005, 7:36 PM CST for St. Clair County, Alabama. It was in force for 39 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
Mar 13, 2005, 7:36 PM CST (01:36 UTC)
Expired
Mar 13, 2005, 8:15 PM CST
In force
39 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County St. Clair County, AL

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 86 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:36 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 nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 1.6 hours before the alert went out and 86 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 00:00Z on 2005-03-14Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 491 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Birmingham, AL at 00:00Z on 2005-03-14The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 32 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
491 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-7 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1546 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
32 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
1 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 140136
TORBMX
ALC115-140215-
/O.NEW.KBMX.TO.W.0005.050314T0136Z-050314T0215Z/

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
736 PM CST SUN MAR 13 2005

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHERN ST. CLAIR COUNTY IN CENTRAL ALABAMA

* UNTIL 815 PM CST

* AT 736 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO 11 MILES WEST OF
  ASHVILLE...OR ABOUT 8 MILES SOUTH OF ONEONTA...MOVING EAST AT 50
  MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  ASHVILLE BY 745 PM CST

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.

TO REPORT SEVERE WEATHER...
CALL 1 800 8 5 6 0 7 5 8.

LAT...LON 3395 8631 3374 8648 3368 8627 3384 8607

$$
1 follow-up statement
000 
WWUS54 KBMX 140159
SVSBMX

SEVERE WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
759 PM CST SUN MAR 13 2005

ALC115-140215-
/O.CON.KBMX.TO.W.0005.000000T0000Z-050314T0215Z/
ST. CLAIR AL-
759 PM CST SUN MAR 13 2005

...A TORNADO WARNING CONTINUES UNTIL 815 PM CST FOR NORTHERN ST.
CLAIR COUNTY...

AT 759 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR CONTINUED TO
INDICATE A TORNADO.  THIS TORNADO WAS LOCATED NEAR ASHVILLE...OR
ABOUT 10 MILES SOUTHWEST OF RAINBOW CITY...MOVING EAST AT 50 MPH.

THE TORNADO WILL AFFECT AREAS NORTH OF RAGLAND IN RURAL EASTERN 
ST. CLAIR 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.

LAT...LON 3395 8631 3374 8648 3368 8627 3384 8607

$$

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 13, 6:24 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXWinston36 min
Mar 13, 6:34 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXGreene41 min
Mar 13, 6:47 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTuscaloosa61 min
Mar 13, 7:05 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXHale44 min
Mar 13, 7:13 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBlount47 min
Mar 13, 7:14 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXPickens, Sumter31 min
Mar 13, 7:19 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXBlount41 min
Mar 13, 7:32 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson28 min
Mar 13, 7:35 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXGreene40 min
Mar 13, 7:38 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBibb67 min
Mar 13, 7:54 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLamar, Pickens36 min
Mar 13, 8:03 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXHale43 min
Mar 13, 8:07 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXCalhoun41 min
Mar 13, 8:40 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXCleburne35 min
Mar 13, 8:56 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSumter49 min
Mar 13, 9:34 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXHale26 min
Mar 13, 10:14 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXPickens31 min
Mar 13, 10:32 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXAutauga, Chilton43 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Alabama, 2005Every tornado warning in 2005Tornadoes in 2005

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.