Alert archive / Alabama / Special Weather Statements in 2015

Special Weather Statement, NWS Birmingham, AL

July 28, 2015Lowndes County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this special weather statement at Jul 28, 2015, 4:36 PM CDT for Lowndes County, Alabama. It was in force for 24 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: Jul 28, 2015, 4:36 PM CDT (21:36 UTC)
Expired: Jul 28, 2015, 5:00 PM CDT
In force: 24 min
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL

County Lowndes County, AL

The radar

The Maxwell AFB radar (KMXX), 117 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:36 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

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 12:00Z, 9.6 hours before the alert went out and 267 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: 661 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -50 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1114 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 7 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 10 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 25 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.

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

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 Jul 28, 3:15 PM CDT, 1 hour 21 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 28, 3:15 PM CDT, 1 hour 21 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
315 PM CDT TUE JUL 28 2015

.DISCUSSION...

UPPER LEVEL RIDGING IS ONE AGAIN EXERTING ITS INFLUENCE ON CENTRAL
ALABAMA AND SURROUNDING AREAS. TEMPERATURES IN MANY AREAS CLIMBED
INTO THE MID/UPPER 90S...WITH BORDERLINE HEAT ADVISORY CONDITIONS.
TEMPS AND HUMIDITY SHOULD BE AT LEAST AS HIGH TOMORROW...AND WILL
GO AHEAD AND PULL THE TRIGGER ON ANOTHER HEAT ADVISORY FOR A
LARGE PORTION OF OUR AREA...INCLUDING BIRMINGHAM AND MONTGOMERY
METRO AREAS. AS WITH TODAY...NO OBVIOUS LARGE SCALE THUNDERSTORM
TRIGGERS AS MESOSCALE PROCESSES RULE THE DAY. WILL THEREFORE
BROADBRUSH POPS FOR TOMORROW...AND LET THE MORNING SHIFT TOMORROW
TRY TO IDENTIFY THE MESOSCALE BOUNDARIES THAT MIGHT LEAD TO
SLIGHTLY BETTER RAIN CHANCES.

AS WE DID EARLIER THIS SUMMER...I THINK WE'LL TAKE THE HEAT
ADVISORY ONE DAY AT A TIME WITH THIS GO 'ROUND AS WELL. BY THE
TIME WE GET TO THE MIDDLE AND END OF THE WEEK...IT APPEARS THE
UPPER RIDGE RETROGRADES PLACING THE SOUTHEAST STATES IN A WEAKNESS
IN BETWEEN TWO RIDGES. THIS SHOULD (SHOULD) KEEP CONDITIONS CLOSER
TO SEASONAL NORMALS. IF ANYTHING...IT LOOKS LIKE SOME DRIER AIR
DOES WORK IN FROM THE NORTH. SO EVEN IF AFTERNOON AIR TEMPS ARE
NOT ALL THAT LOWER...THE LOWER HUMIDITY SHOULD KEEP US BELOW HEAT
ADVISORY CRITERIA. IT WOULD ALSO LIMIT THE CHANCE OF RAIN TO THE
SOUTHERN THIRD TO QUARTER OF THE CWA AS WELL.

/61/

&&

.AVIATION...
18Z TAF DISCUSSION.

ISOLATED TO SCATTERED CONVECTION HAS ALREADY DEVELOPED WITH THE
BEST CHANCES ACROSS THE NORTH AND EAST THRU THE REMAINDER OF THE
DAY. DUE TO SCATTERED NATURE OF THE ACTIVITY WILL HAVE TO AMEND
THRU THE DAY FOR ANY TS IMPACTS. CONVECTION SHOULD DIMINISH WITH
SUNSET. SOME PATCHY LIGHT FOG IS POSSIBLE ONCE AGAIN LATE TONIGHT.

19

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
GADSDEN     74  94  75  92  71 /  30  40  30  30  20
ANNISTON    74  93  75  93  73 /  30  40  30  40  30
BIRMINGHAM  75  95  76  93  73 /  20  40  30  30  20
TUSCALOOSA  75  97  76  95  74 /  20  40  30  30  20
CALERA      75  94  75  93  73 /  20  40  30  40  30
AUBURN      74  94  74  92  74 /  30  40  30  50  40
MONTGOMERY  76  96  76  96  76 /  30  40  30  40  40
TROY        75  97  75  94  75 /  30  40  30  50  40

&&

.BMX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
HEAT ADVISORY FROM 12 NOON TO 9 PM CDT WEDNESDAY FOR AUTAUGA-
BARBOUR-BIBB-BULLOCK-CHILTON-DALLAS-ELMORE-FAYETTE-GREENE-HALE-
JEFFERSON-LAMAR-LEE-LOWNDES-MACON-MARENGO-MARION-MONTGOMERY-
PERRY-PICKENS-PIKE-RUSSELL-SHELBY-SUMTER-TUSCALOOSA-WALKER-
WINSTON.

&&

Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 28, 3:50 AM CDT, 12 hours 46 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
350 AM CDT TUE JUL 28 2015

ALZ011>015-017>050-291200-
MARION-LAMAR-FAYETTE-WINSTON-WALKER-BLOUNT-ETOWAH-CALHOUN-CHEROKEE-
CLEBURNE-PICKENS-TUSCALOOSA-JEFFERSON-SHELBY-ST. CLAIR-TALLADEGA-
CLAY-RANDOLPH-SUMTER-GREENE-HALE-PERRY-BIBB-CHILTON-COOSA-TALLAPOOSA-
CHAMBERS-MARENGO-DALLAS-AUTAUGA-LOWNDES-ELMORE-MONTGOMERY-MACON-
BULLOCK-LEE-RUSSELL-PIKE-BARBOUR-
350 AM CDT TUE JUL 28 2015

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE COUNTIES SERVED BY THE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN BIRMINGHAM.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT.

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY.

TEMPERATURES IN THE 90S AND HIGH HUMIDITY VALUES WILL COMBINE TO
PRODUCE MAXIMUM HEAT INDICES AROUND 105 DEGREES ON WEDNESDAY AND
THURSDAY AFTERNOONS MAINLY ACROSS THE SOUTH AND WEST.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT IS NOT
ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 28, 3:16 PM CDT, 1 hour 20 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

Local storm report, Jul 28, 4:07 PM CDT, 29 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
407 PM CDT TUE JUL 28 2015

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

0310 PM     TSTM WND DMG     3 NE DEATSVILLE         32.64N 86.37W
07/28/2015                   ELMORE             AL   EMERGENCY MNGR

            SEVERAL TREES AND PHONE LINES DOWN NEAR COOSA RIVER RD
            AND FOREMAN RD. WINDS ESTIMATED 40-50 MPH. TIME ESTIMATED
            FROM RADAR.

&&

DAVIS

Special weather statement, Jul 28, 4:27 PM CDT, 9 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
427 PM CDT TUE JUL 28 2015

ALZ025-282215-
SHELBY AL-
427 PM CDT TUE JUL 28 2015

...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SOUTHEASTERN SHELBY COUNTY UNTIL
515 PM CDT...

AT 427 PM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING A STRONG THUNDERSTORM NEAR
COLUMBIANA. THIS STORM WAS NEARLY STATIONARY.

WINDS IN EXCESS OF 40 MPH WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM.

LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE...
COLUMBIANA...WILSONVILLE...LAY LAKE...SHELBY...BEESWAX CREEK PARK...
SPRING CREEK...ALABAMA 4H CENTER...SHELBY SHORES...KELLEY BRANCH AND
HIGHWAY 145 AND CR 46.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

TORRENTIAL RAINFALL IS ALSO OCCURRING WITH THIS STORM...AND MAY LEAD
TO FLASH FLOODING. DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE THROUGH FLOODED
ROADWAYS.

FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING IS OCCURRING WITH THIS STORM.
LIGHTNING CAN STRIKE 15 MILES AWAY FROM A THUNDERSTORM. SEEK A SAFE
SHELTER INSIDE A BUILDING OR VEHICLE.

&&

LAT...LON 3320 8646 3320 8649 3317 8650 3316 8648
      3312 8646 3309 8651 3307 8651 3306 8652
      3303 8652 3302 8656 3306 8660 3305 8662
      3307 8661 3307 8664 3318 8667 3326 8648
TIME...MOT...LOC 2127Z 332DEG 2KT 3316 8654

56

Special weather statement, Jul 28, 4:32 PM CDT, 4 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
432 PM CDT TUE JUL 28 2015

ALZ047-282215-
LEE AL-
432 PM CDT TUE JUL 28 2015

...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR NORTHWESTERN LEE COUNTY UNTIL 515
PM CDT...

AT 431 PM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING A STRONG THUNDERSTORM NEAR
WAVERLY...OR JUST WEST OF AUBURN...MOVING SOUTH AT 5 MPH.

WINDS IN EXCESS OF 40 MPH WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM.

LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE...
AUBURN...NOTASULGA...WAVERLY...LOACHAPOKA AND ROXANA.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

TORRENTIAL RAINFALL IS ALSO OCCURRING WITH THIS STORM...AND MAY LEAD
TO FLASH FLOODING. DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE THROUGH FLOODED
ROADWAYS.

FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING IS OCCURRING WITH THIS STORM.
LIGHTNING CAN STRIKE 15 MILES AWAY FROM A THUNDERSTORM. SEEK A SAFE
SHELTER INSIDE A BUILDING OR VEHICLE.

&&

LAT...LON 3251 8553 3257 8566 3258 8566 3258 8570
      3265 8570 3271 8566 3271 8561 3273 8561
      3273 8558 3274 8557 3273 8557 3273 8547
TIME...MOT...LOC 2131Z 011DEG 5KT 3266 8556

56

Special weather statement, Jul 28, 4:36 PM CDT, 0 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
436 PM CDT TUE JUL 28 2015

ALZ040-042-282200-
DALLAS AL-LOWNDES AL-
436 PM CDT TUE JUL 28 2015

...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SOUTHEASTERN DALLAS AND WEST
CENTRAL LOWNDES COUNTIES UNTIL 500 PM CDT...

AT 436 PM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING A STRONG THUNDERSTORM 10
MILES SOUTHEAST OF BELKNAP...OR 16 MILES SOUTHWEST OF MOSSES...MOVING
SOUTH AT 5 MPH.

WINDS IN EXCESS OF 40 MPH WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM.

LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE...
CARLOWVILLE...FARMERSVILLE AND MINTER.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

TORRENTIAL RAINFALL IS ALSO OCCURRING WITH THIS STORM...AND MAY LEAD
TO FLASH FLOODING. DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE THROUGH FLOODED
ROADWAYS.

FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING IS OCCURRING WITH THIS STORM.
LIGHTNING CAN STRIKE 15 MILES AWAY FROM A THUNDERSTORM. SEEK A SAFE
SHELTER INSIDE A BUILDING OR VEHICLE.

&&

LAT...LON 3205 8686 3205 8707 3216 8700 3216 8678
TIME...MOT...LOC 2136Z 016DEG 6KT 3207 8692

56

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 28, 3:16 PM CDT	Special Weather Statement	BMX	Autauga	44 min
Jul 28, 3:20 PM CDT	Heat Advisory	BMX	Autauga, Barbour, Bibb, Bullock, Chilton, Dallas and 21 more	23 hr
Jul 28, 4:27 PM CDT	Special Weather Statement	BMX	Shelby	48 min
Jul 28, 4:32 PM CDT	Special Weather Statement	BMX	Lee	43 min
Jul 28, 5:02 PM CDT	Special Weather Statement	BMX	Calhoun	43 min
Jul 28, 5:13 PM CDT	Special Weather Statement	BMX	Randolph	32 min
Jul 28, 5:15 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Calhoun, Cleburne, Talladega	33 min
Jul 28, 5:45 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Randolph	45 min
Jul 28, 6:29 PM CDT	Special Weather Statement	BMX	Etowah	46 min

Nearby

Special Weather Statements in Alabama, 2015 Every special weather statement in 2015

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.