Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2009
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 164, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 13, 2009, 9:23 PM CDT for Walker County, Winston County, Alabama. It was in force for 37 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- Apr 13, 2009, 9:23 PM CDT (02:23 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 13, 2009, 10:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 37 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Storm-based polygon
Counties Walker County, AL, Winston County, AL
The radar
The Columbus AFB radar (KGWX), 92 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:24 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, 2.4 hours before the alert went out and 102 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
- 110 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -27 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 948 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 82 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 78 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 118 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Birmingham, AL wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Apr 13, 6:43 PM CDT, 2 hours 40 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Apr 13, 6:43 PM CDT, 2 hours 40 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 643 PM CDT MON APR 13 2009 .UPDATE...FOR 00Z AVIATION. && .DISCUSSION... ALTHOUGH A BREAK IN THE WEATHER IS EXPECTED EARLY THIS AFTERNOON...THINGS WILL BE QUICKLY CHANGING AS THE ATMOSPHERE BEGINS TO DESTABILIZE ONCE AGAIN. CURRENT THINKING IS THAT THIS WILL BE A TWO ROUND EVENT. FIRST ROUND WILL BE ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WITH THE SECOND ROUND BEING A SQUALL LINE. LETS GO AHEAD AND FOCUS ON THE FIRST ROUND OF SEVERE WEATHER. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL BEGIN TO TRIGGER AS EARLY AS 3 PM ACROSS AREAS ALONG THE MISSISSIPPI AND ALABAMA STATE LINE. COVERAGE IS EXPECTED TO INCREASE ACROSS WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA. BY 5 PM...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD BE PRETTY ACTIVE ACROSS AREAS WEST OF INTERSTATE 65. AIRMASS WILL CONTINUE TO DESTABILIZE ACROSS THE EASTERN PARTS OF INTERSTATE 65 WHICH ALLOW THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT TO OCCUR AFTER 5 PM. ALL OF THESE STORMS WILL HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE VERY LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. ALTHOUGH CONDITIONS ARE NOT QUITE PRIME FOR A TORNADO OUTBREAK...THERE COULD BE ENOUGH SHEAR TO PRODUCE A FEW ISOLATED TORNADOES. BUFKIT NAM DATA SHOWS THAT EHI AND HELICITY WONT BE QUITE AS HIGH. LOW LEVEL SHEAR WILL BE UNIDIRECTIONAL...BUT PLENTY OF SPEED SHEAR. ALTHOUGH UNIDIRECTIONAL SHEAR IS NOT USUALLY CONDUCIVE OF TORNADIC ACTIVITY...STORM INTERACTION WITH A BOUNDARY AND RIGHT OR LEFT MOVERS COULD COMPLETELY CHANGE THE ENVIRONMENT OF THESE STORMS AND THUS ALLOW THEM TO QUICKLY PRODUCE A TORNADO. THESE STORMS COULD LAST WELL INTO THE EVENING HOURS. THE SECOND ROUND OF STORMS WILL BE IN THE FORM OF A SQUALL LINE. MODELS INDICATE THAT THIS LINE WILL DEVELOP ACROSS EASTERN MISSISSIPPI AND WILL QUICKLY RACE TOWARDS THE EAST TOWARDS THE FORECAST AREA. BASED ON THE LOCAL HIGH RESOLUTION WRF...THE LINE COULD BEGIN TO APPROACH THE STATE AS EARLY AS 8 PM AND ARRIVING TO THE INTERSTATE 65 CORRIDOR NEAR 11 PM. THE MAIN THREAT WITH THIS LINE WILL BE DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE. THE TORNADO THREAT WILL BE A LITTLE LESS WITH THIS LINE BUT COULD NOT BE DISREGARDED. THE THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER COULD EXTEND AS LATE AS 4 AM...ESPECIALLY FOR LOCATIONS WEST OF INTERSTATE 65. THERE IS STILL SOME QUESTION MARK WHETHER OR NOT INSTABILITY WILL REMAIN PAST MIDNIGHT FOR AREAS EAST OF 65. HOWEVER...MODELS HINTING AT A LOW LEVEL JET DEVELOPING ALONG THE LINE OF STORMS WHICH COULD HELP SUSTAIN THE LINE WELL INTO THE OVERNIGHT HOURS AND WELL INTO AREAS EAST OF INTERSTATE 65. AFTER THIS EVENT IS OVER...WE SHOULD BE PRETTY QUITE AT LEAST THROUGH THE REST OF THE WEEK. NEXT STORM SYSTEM COULD MOVE IN OVER THE WEEKEND. && .AVIATION...00Z TAF DISCUSSION. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE DEVELOPING ACROSS WEST ALABAMA AHEAD OF A SLOW MOVING COLD FRONT. AT THIS POINT...THE STORMS ARE TOO ISOLATED TO INCLUDE IN THE TAFS BUT WILL WATCH THE TRENDS AS THERE IS SOME POTENTIAL FOR A BKN SQUALL LINE TO DEVELOP AND PUSH THROUGH THE AREA TONIGHT. MVFR CEILINGS WILL REMAIN IN PLACE ACROSS MGM AND TOI THROUGH THE OVERNIGHT WITH DEVELOPING/LOWERING CEILINGS ACROSS THE NORTH. IFR CONDITIONS WILL BE POSSIBLE THROUGH MID MORNING WITH CLEARING BY NOON. WINDS ARE SOUTH TO SOUTHEAST AND WILL SHIFT TO WEST AND NORTHWEST BEHIND THE FRONT. && .BMX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && 10/88
Hazardous weather outlook, Apr 13, 8:03 PM CDT, 1 hour 20 minutes before
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Special weather statement, Apr 13, 7:12 PM CDT, 2 hours 11 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 712 PM CDT MON APR 13 2009 ALZ011-012-140045- LAMAR-MARION- 712 PM CDT MON APR 13 2009 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ALERT FOR LAMAR AND MARION COUNTIES UNTIL 745 PM CDT... AT 710 PM CDT...THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IS TRACKING A STRONG THUNDERSTORM 6 MILES SOUTH OF WESTON...OR 7 MILES SOUTHWEST OF HAMILTON...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 50 MPH. PEA SIZE HAIL AND WINDS UP TO 40 MPH ARE EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM. * LOCATIONS IN OR NEAR THE PATH INCLUDE... BYRD. RANKIN FITE AIRPORT. HAMILTON. BRINN. HACKLEBURG. BEAR CREEK. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...COMMERCIAL RADIO...OR YOUR LOCAL TELEVISION STATIONS FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS CONCERNING THIS WEATHER SITUATION. 27
Local storm report, Apr 13, 8:22 PM CDT, 1 hour 1 minute before
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</html>Special weather statement, Apr 13, 8:43 PM CDT, 40 minutes before
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</html>The office that day
Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 13, 7:24 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Marion, Winston | 36 min |
| Apr 13, 7:35 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Fayette, Lamar, Pickens | 40 min |
| Apr 13, 7:37 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Fayette, Lamar, Pickens | 38 min |
| Apr 13, 7:41 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Pickens | 49 min |
| Apr 13, 10:01 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Greene, Sumter | 22 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Alabama, 2009Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2009
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.