Alert archive / Alabama / Special Weather Statements in 2012

Special Weather Statement, NWS Birmingham, AL

April 5, 2012Clay County, Talladega County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this special weather statement at Apr 5, 2012, 7:52 PM CDT for Clay County, Talladega 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: Apr 5, 2012, 7:52 PM CDT (00:52 UTC)
Expired: Apr 5, 2012, 8:30 PM CDT
In force: 38 min
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL

Counties Clay County, AL, Talladega County, AL

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 82 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:52 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, 0.9 hours before the alert went out and 83 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: 242 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -32 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1349 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 58 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 88 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 115 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.1
Supercell composite: 2.3

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 Apr 5, 7:06 PM CDT, 46 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 5, 7:06 PM CDT, 46 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
706 PM CDT THU APR 5 2012

.UPDATE...
FOR AVIATION.

&&

.AVIATION...
00Z TAF DISCUSSION.

MAIN UPDATES FOR THIS PACKAGE WILL BE CONTINUED TIMING FOR SECOND
ROUND OF STORMS WITH LINE OF TSRA THAT IS MOVING ACROSS I65
CORRIDOR EASTWARD AS WE SPEAK. STORMS SHOULD BE OUT OF ALABAMA
BEFORE MIDNIGHT. GUSTY WINDS AND HAIL ARE POSSIBLE IN THE STRONGER
STORMS. VFR DURING THE DAY ON THURSDAY IN THE WAKE OF THE UPPER LOW.

08/MNK

&&

.PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 100 PM CDT THU APR 5 2012/

UPDATE...
FORECAST UPDATE.

DISCUSSION...

UPDATING FORECAST TO REMOVE A FEW MORE WARNINGS FROM
WATCH...BIBB...PERRY AND MARENGO. OUT SHORTLY.

PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 1227 PM CDT THU APR 5 2012/

DISCUSSION...

MCS/SQUALL LINE CONTINUES TO MOVE ACROSS CENTRAL ALABAMA AND
SHOULD BE NEAR THE GEORGIA STATE LINE BETWEEN 3 TO 4 PM. SURFACE
HEATING AHEAD OF THE LINE SHOULD ALLOW IT STORMS TO CONTINUE TO BE
STRONG TO SEVERE AT TIMES. REMOVED SEVERAL COUNTIES FROM THE
WESTERN PART OF THE WATCH AS THE THREAT FOR THE NEXT FEW HOURS HAS
ENDED. ADDED COUNTIES IN THE EAST AS THE LINE IS EXPECTED TO
MAINTAIN INTENSITY ACROSS THE STATE.

ADDITIONAL DEVELOPMENT IS CURRENTLY TAKING PLACE NEAR THE UPPER
LOW IN NORTHWEST MISSISSIPPI ALONG THE COLD FRONT. MID LEVEL DRY
SLOT AND CLEARING IS WORKING IN TO THE WESTERN PART OF ALABAMA AND
WILL ALLOW FOR SURFACE HEATING IN THE WAKE OF THE MCS. EXPECT
ISOLATED STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TO AFFECT THE NORTHWEST
PART OF THE AREA LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND SPREAD SOUTHEASTWARD
ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE COLD CORE UPPER
LOW. HAIL WILL BE THE PRIMARY THREAT WITH THESE STORMS AS 500 MB
TEMPS OF -17 TO -19 C MOVE OVER THE NORTHERN HALF OF THE STATE.
THESE STORMS MAY LAST UNTIL A FEW HOURS AFTER SUNSET BEFORE
WEAKENING.

DID NOT UPDATE MUCH OF THE FORECAST BEYOND THE TONIGHT PERIOD DUE
TO ONGOING WEATHER. A GLANCE AT THE 12Z GFS SHOWS NO MAJOR CHANGES
ARE NECESSARY FOR THE EXTENDED AS COOLER AND DRIER NORTHWEST FLOW
CONTINUES INTO NEXT WEEK.

GRANTHAM/87

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
GADSDEN     50  71  46  74  48 /  60  10   0   0   0
ANNISTON    52  72  47  74  49 /  60  10   0   0   0
BIRMINGHAM  49  73  49  74  51 /  60  10   0   0   0
TUSCALOOSA  51  74  49  76  50 /  60   0   0   0   0
CALERA      50  71  51  75  51 /  60  10   0   0   0
AUBURN      55  71  48  73  47 /  40  10   0   0   0
MONTGOMERY  54  76  51  76  50 /  40  10   0   0   0
TROY        55  75  50  74  48 /  20  10   0   0   0

&&

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

&&

08/87

Hazardous weather outlook, Apr 5, 7:30 PM CDT, 22 minutes before

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In the hours before

Local storm report, Apr 5, 6:58 PM CDT, 54 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
658 PM CDT THU APR 05 2012

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0646 PM     HAIL             ALABASTER               33.25N 86.82W
04/05/2012  M1.00 INCH       SHELBY             AL   AMATEUR RADIO

&&

MBAER

Local storm report, Apr 5, 7:01 PM CDT, 51 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
701 PM CDT THU APR 05 2012

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0655 PM     HAIL             N CALERA                33.10N 86.75W
04/05/2012  M0.50 INCH       SHELBY             AL   NWS EMPLOYEE

            NWS BMX

&&

MBAER

Local storm report, Apr 5, 7:21 PM CDT, 31 minutes before

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Local storm report, Apr 5, 7:36 PM CDT, 16 minutes before

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Local storm report, Apr 5, 7:50 PM CDT, 2 minutes before

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Special weather statement, Apr 5, 7:52 PM CDT, 0 minutes before

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The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 5, 7:14 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Chilton, Coosa, Shelby	32 min
Apr 5, 7:17 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Autauga, Elmore, Lowndes, Montgomery	43 min
Apr 5, 7:20 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Shelby, Talladega	40 min
Apr 5, 7:58 PM CDT	Special Weather Statement	BMX	Elmore, Lee, Macon	62 min
Apr 5, 9:00 PM CDT	Special Weather Statement	BMX	DeKalb	45 min

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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.