Alert archive / Alabama / Special Weather Statements in 2012

Special Weather Statement, NWS Birmingham, AL

May 6, 2012Shelby County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this special weather statement at May 6, 2012, 8:30 PM CDT for Shelby County, Alabama. It was in force for 45 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
May 6, 2012, 8:30 PM CDT (01:30 UTC)
Expired
May 6, 2012, 9:15 PM CDT
In force
45 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL

County Shelby County, AL

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 29 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:30 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, 1.5 hours before the alert went out and 28 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 2012-05-07Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 249 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Birmingham, AL at 00:00Z on 2012-05-07The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 39 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
249 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-83 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1807 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
7 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
39 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
55 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 May 6, 6:46 PM CDT, 1 hour 44 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 6, 6:46 PM CDT, 1 hour 44 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
646 PM CDT SUN MAY 6 2012

.UPDATE...
FOR AVIATION.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
SHORT TERM...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT

MOST OF THE STORMS FROM EARLIER TODAY HAVE PUSHED SOUTH OF THE
FORECAST AREA ALONG AN OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES. A FEW BOUNDARIES STILL
EXIST FROM PREVIOUS CONVECTION AND HAVE INITIATED A COUPLE OF STORMS
ACROSS MONTGOMERY AND BULLOCK COUNTIES. CLEARING HAS OCCURRED BEHIND
THE CONVECTION MAINLY NORTH OF A LINE FROM LIVINGSTON TO CLANTON TO
ROANOKE. HOWEVER...WEAK CONVECTIVE INHIBITION IS IN PLACE ACROSS
AREAS CURRENTLY WITH SUN. QUESTIONS STILL REMAIN ABOUT REDEVELOPMENT
LATER THIS AFTERNOON. ANY REDEVELOPMENT SHOULD REMAIN SCATTERED WITH
PULSE SEVERE STORMS POSSIBLE WITH DAYTIME HEATING THIS AFTERNOON. A
FEW SHOWERS AND STORMS HAVE ALREADY BEGUN TO REDEVELOP ACROSS THE
TENNESSEE VALLEY. VISIBLE SATELLITE SHOWS A LIMITED AMOUNT OF CU
ACROSS CENTRAL ALABAMA. THEREFORE...ADDITIONAL CONVECTION MAY REMAIN
RATHER ISOLATED. THE MAIN THREATS FROM ANY STORMS THAT FORM WILL BE
LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. A FEW OF THESE SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS COULD PERSIST INTO THE OVERNIGHT HOURS BUT SHOULD
WEAKEN SHORTLY AFTER SUNSET DUE TO THE LOSS OF DAYTIME HEATING.

MA

&&

.AVIATION...
00Z TAF DISCUSSION.

ROUND TWO HAS BEGUN...ALTHOUGH MORE ISOLATED THAN EARLIER. MOST OF
THE ACTIVITY HAS DEVELOPED ALONG A BOUNDARY THAT HAS DEVELOPED NEAR
THE US 78 CORRIDOR IN NORTHWESTERN ALABAMA. STORMS HAVE GONE UP
QUITE HIGH AND QUICKLY. THE INTERESTING PART OF IT IS THAT IT
APPEARS THAT THE ACTIVITY MAY ACTUALLY SPLIT MOST OF THE TERMINALS.
WENT AHEAD AND INCLUDED VCTS FOR TCL...ANB...BHM..AND EET...WITH EET
GETTING A TEMPO FROM 00Z TO 02Z. WILL AMEND THE OTHER SITES IF
NEEDED. OTHERWISE...VFR CONDITIONS THROUGH 06Z OUTSIDE THE RAIN
AREAS. KEPT THE CEILINGS VFR OVERNIGHT WITH VIS DROPPING INTO MVFR
TOWARD 11Z. WILL TRY TO REEVALUATE THE POTENTIAL LOWER CLOUDS AND
FOG ON THE NEXT PACKAGE AS ONGOING WEATHER TOOK PRECEDENCE.

NOTE***THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IS ISSUING SEASONAL TERMINAL
FORECASTS FOR THE TALLADEGA MUNICIPAL AIRPORT (KASN) IN
TALLADEGA...ALABAMA. THE FORECASTS WILL LAST THROUGH AT LEAST THE
9TH OF MAY. DUE TO THE LIMITED AVAILABILITY OF OBSERVATIONS...KASN
TAF WILL HAVE AMD NOT SKED APPENDED TO THE END OF THE FORECAST.

&&

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

&&
Hazardous weather outlook, May 6, 8:20 PM CDT, 10 minutes before
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In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 6, 7:44 PM CDT, 46 minutes before
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Special weather statement, May 6, 7:54 PM CDT, 36 minutes before
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Local storm report, May 6, 7:55 PM CDT, 35 minutes before
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Local storm report, May 6, 8:07 PM CDT, 23 minutes before
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Special weather statement, May 6, 8:19 PM CDT, 11 minutes before
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Special weather statement, May 6, 8:30 PM CDT, 0 minutes before
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The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 6, 7:04 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFayette, Walker41 min
May 6, 7:20 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementBMXJefferson40 min
May 6, 7:44 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementBMXJefferson, Tuscaloosa46 min
May 6, 7:54 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementBMXRandolph51 min
May 6, 8:19 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementBMXPickens41 min
May 6, 9:29 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementBMXChambers46 min
May 6, 9:56 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementBMXWalker49 min
May 6, 10:13 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementBMXLee47 min
May 6, 10:27 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementBMXCalhoun48 min
May 6, 10:41 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementBMXMacon49 min
May 6, 11:26 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementBMXElmore49 min
May 7, 12:54 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementBMXFayette, Lamar51 min
May 7, 1:20 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementBMXPickens40 min
May 7, 1:42 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementBMXMarion48 min
May 7, 1:44 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementBMXFayette, Pickens46 min
May 7, 2:15 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementBMXGreene, Sumter45 min
May 7, 2:29 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementBMXTuscaloosa, Walker46 min
May 7, 2:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXWalker45 min
May 7, 3:05 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementBMXGreene, Hale, Sumter40 min
May 7, 3:15 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementBMXBibb, Blount, Jefferson, Shelby45 min
May 7, 3:54 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementBMXJefferson51 min
May 7, 3:56 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXBlount3 hr
May 7, 3:56 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementBMXJefferson49 min
May 7, 4:07 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementBMXBlount, St. Clair38 min
May 7, 4:29 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementBMXShelby, Talladega46 min
May 7, 4:55 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementBMXCalhoun50 min
May 7, 5:16 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementBMXClay, Coosa, Talladega44 min

Nearby

Special Weather Statements in Alabama, 2012Every 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.