Alert archive / Alabama / Special Weather Statements in 2012

Special Weather Statement, NWS Birmingham, AL

January 8, 2012Elmore County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this special weather statement at Jan 8, 2012, 5:52 PM CST for Elmore County, Alabama. It was in force for 38 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: Jan 8, 2012, 5:52 PM CST (23:52 UTC)
Expired: Jan 8, 2012, 6:30 PM CST
In force: 38 min
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL

County Elmore County, AL

The nearest sounding before it

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 12:00Z, 11.9 hours before the alert went out and 189 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: 49 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -17 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 442 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 48 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 84 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 74 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.

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What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this special weather statement 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 special weather statement went out at Jan 8, 3:10 PM CST, 2 hours 42 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 8, 3:10 PM CST, 2 hours 42 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
310 PM CST SUN JAN 8 2012

.DISCUSSION...

NO BIG CHANGES PLANNED TO THE ONGOING FORECAST IN THE SHORT TERM.
BIG UPPER LEVEL LOW IS STILL FORECAST TO BE THE MAIN PLAYER ON OUR
WEATHER OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS. A SURFACE STATIONARY FRONT
CONTINUES TO LAG AROUND NORTH ALABAMA...AND IT WILL MOVE VERY
LITTLE UNTIL THE MAIN SYSTEM GETS IN HERE TUESDAY NIGHT. THAT WILL
BE MOST OF CENTRAL ALABAMA WILL REMAIN ON THE RELATIVELY WARM AND
MOIST SIDE OF THE FRONT...KEEPING CONDITIONS QUITE UNSETTLED. IT
LOOKS LIKE THE NEXT 24 HOURS WILL BE QUITE SHOWERY...ALTHOUGH
THERE MAY BE A LULL IN RAIN COVERAGE MONDAY NIGHT INTO EARLY
TUESDAY BEFORE THE MAIN SURFACE LOW AND COLD FRONT APPROACH.
THERE'S NO CHANGE IN THE THINKING REGARDING THE LIMITED SEVERE
WEATHER THREAT ASSOCIATED WITH THE FRONTAL PASSAGE ON TUESDAY --
IT IS STILL MARGINAL BUT NOT QUITE ZERO. GIVEN THE AMOUNT OF SHEAR
FORECAST TO ACCOMPANY THIS DYNAMIC SYSTEM...I THINK IT IS PRUDENT
TO AT LEAST KEEP A LOW CONFIDENCE MENTION OF SEVERE POTENTIAL IN
THE HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK.

THE CENTER CORE OF THE MAIN UPPER LEVEL LOW WILL PASS RIGHT OVER
(OR VERY NEAR) CENTRAL ALABAMA ON WEDNESDAY. ITS COLD CORE WILL
PROVIDE DECENT MID LEVEL LAPSE RATES...WHICH SHOULD LEAD TO MORE
SHOWERY CONDITIONS (EVEN AFTER THE SURFACE FRONT HAS PASSED). THAT
SHOULD ALL MOVE OUT WITH THE LIFTING UPPER LOW WEDNESDAY NIGHT.

LONG WAVE TROUGHINESS THEN BECOMES ESTABLISHED IN THE EASTERN
PORTION OF THE COUNTRY FOR THE END OF THE WEEK. THE LONG RANGE
MODELS STILL AGREE ON MANY OF THE DETAILS IN THE BOTH THE UPPER
LEVEL AND SURFACE FEATURES. BUT IT NOW LOOKS LIKE THE GFS HAS COME
BACK AROUND TO THE ECMWF'S IDEA OF KEEPING CONDITIONS DRY THURSDAY
AND FRIDAY...WHILE ALSO COOLING THINGS DOWN QUITE A BIT DURING
THAT TIME FRAME AS WELL. IN FACT...ONCE WE GET PAST THE LAST OF
THE WET WEATHER ON WEDNESDAY...BOTH THOSE MODELS SUGGEST THE NEXT
CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION WONT COME UNTIL AT LEAST MONDAY OF NEXT WEEK.

/61/

&&

.AVIATION...
18Z TAF DISCUSSION.

A STALLED FRONT DRAPED ACROSS NORTHERN ALABAMA WILL CONTINUE TO
SPARK SHOWERS WITH A FEW THUNDERSTORMS THROUGHOUT THE DAY.
CURRENTLY...SHOWERS HAVE MOVED INTO THE NORTHEAST CORNER OF THE AREA
AFFECTING ONLY ANB FOR THE TIME BEING. EXPECTING ADDITIONAL DEVELOP
DURING THE AFTERNOON. MVFR CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED...WITH IFR
CONDITIONS POSSIBLE WITH ANY PASSING SHOWERS. CONFIDENCE IS NOT VERY
HIGH AS TO THE TIMING OF SHOWER OR THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY.  DURING
THE OVERNIGHT HOURS...CONDITIONS LOOK TO BE LIKE THE PAST FEW
NIGHTS...WITH CIGS AND VSBYS POSSIBLY GOING BELOW VFR CONDITIONS.

73

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
GADSDEN     51  65  46  64  52 /  80  80  20  50  90
ANNISTON    53  68  49  67  54 /  80  80  20  50  90
BIRMINGHAM  55  67  50  66  55 /  80  80  30  60  90
TUSCALOOSA  55  68  52  67  57 /  80  80  50  70  70
CALERA      54  67  52  67  55 /  70  70  30  60  90
AUBURN      55  69  52  66  53 /  60  60  20  50  90
MONTGOMERY  57  73  54  69  55 /  60  60  30  70  90
TROY        56  72  52  69  54 /  50  50  20  70  90

&&

.BMX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NONE.

&&

Hazardous weather outlook, Jan 8, 12:36 PM CST, 5 hours 16 minutes before

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In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jan 8, 5:52 PM CST, 0 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
552 PM CST SUN JAN 8 2012

ALZ041>044-090030-
AUTAUGA AL-ELMORE AL-LOWNDES AL-MONTGOMERY AL-
552 PM CST SUN JAN 8 2012

...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SOUTHEASTERN AUTAUGA...NORTHERN
MONTGOMERY...NORTHERN LOWNDES AND SOUTHWESTERN ELMORE COUNTIES UNTIL
630 PM CST...

AT 548 PM CST...THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WAS TRACKING A STRONG
THUNDERSTORM NEAR AUTAUGA COUNTY AIRPORT...OR 6 MILES SOUTHWEST OF
PRATTVILLE.  THIS STORM WAS NEARLY STATIONARY.

PEA SIZE HAIL AND WIND GUSTS UP TO 40 MPH ARE EXPECTED WITH THIS
STORM.

LOCATIONS IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE...
  PRATTVILLE...
  MILLBROOK...
  WETUMPKA...
  AUTAUGA COUNTY AIRPORT...
  HUNTER...

&&

LAT...LON 3247 8664 3266 8605 3242 8601 3241 8602
      3241 8601 3239 8601 3238 8602 3237 8601
      3234 8600 3230 8656
TIME...MOT...LOC 2352Z 180DEG 0KT 3239 8650

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jan 8, 5:56 PM CST	Dense Fog Advisory	BMX	Autauga, Barbour, Bibb, Blount, Bullock, Calhoun and 33 more	15 hr

Nearby

Special Weather Statements in Alabama, 2012 Every special weather statement in 2012

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.