Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 2015

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Birmingham, AL

January 3, 2015Greene County, Pickens County, Sumter County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Jan 3, 2015, 4:34 PM CST for Greene County, Pickens County, Sumter County, Alabama. It was in force for 41 min. 4 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: Jan 3, 2015, 4:34 PM CST (22:34 UTC)
Expired: Jan 3, 2015, 5:15 PM CST
In force: 41 min
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL
Area: Storm-based polygon

Counties Greene County, AL, Pickens County, AL, Sumter County, AL

The radar

The Columbus AFB radar (KGWX), 110 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:34 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.

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Jan 3, 4:36 PM CST	TORNADO 1	5 N Emelle, AL	HUNDREDS OF TREES DOWN ON HIGHWAY 116 NEAR HIGHWAY 17 AND OLD BODKA ROAD.
Jan 3, 4:37 PM CST	TSTM WND DMG	5 N Emelle, AL	TREES DOWN ON HIGHWAY 116 NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF HIGHWAY 17.
Jan 3, 4:55 PM CST	TORNADO	3 N New West Greene, AL	A TORNADO MOVED PARALLEL TO COUTY ROAD 117 IN NORTHERN GREENE COUNTY. THE TORNADO WAS RATED AN EF1 AS DOZENS OF HARDWOOD AND SOFTWOOD TREES WERE SNAPPED OFF OR WERE UPROOTED ALONG THE PATH. ONE HOME...ONE MOBILE HOME...AND SEVERAL OUTBUILDINGS WERE DAMAGED.
Jan 3, 5:19 PM CST	TORNADO 0	1 Sse Jena, AL	NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE METEOROLOGISTS SURVEYED DAMAGE IN GREENE AND TUSCALOOSA COUNTIES AND CONFIRMED A WEAK TORNADO. THE TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN NEAR THE GREENE-TUSCALOOSA COUNTY LINE JUST SOUTH OF THE JENA COMMUNITY. THE INITIAL TOUCHDOWN WAS ALONG SHILOH RD

Local storm reports filed while the alert was in force, from inside its polygon or its counties.

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Jan 3, 3:18 PM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 10.6 hours before the alert went out and 130 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 471 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 50 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 266 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 377 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.

004 
WFUS54 KBMX 032234
TORBMX
ALC063-107-119-032315-
/O.NEW.KBMX.TO.W.0003.150103T2234Z-150103T2315Z/

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
434 PM CST SAT JAN 3 2015

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHERN GREENE COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA...
  SOUTHERN PICKENS COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA...
  NORTHWESTERN SUMTER COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA...

* UNTIL 515 PM CST

* AT 433 PM CST...THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDICATED A SEVERE
  THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO. THIS DANGEROUS STORM
  WAS LOCATED 7 MILES NORTH OF EMELLE...OR 18 MILES NORTHWEST OF
  LIVINGSTON...AND MOVING NORTHEAST AT 55 MPH.

* LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE...
  ALICEVILLE...PANOLA...NEW WEST GREENE...WEST GREENE...UNION...
  MANTUA...BENEVOLA...JENA...GEIGER AND WARSAW.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

TAKE COVER NOW. FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE
LOWEST FLOOR OF A STURDY BUILDING.

&&

TO REPORT SEVERE WEATHER...
CALL 1-800-856-0758 OR TWEET YOUR REPORT USING HASHTAG ALWX

LAT...LON 3273 8837 3296 8835 3328 8798 3313 8783
      3302 8783 3301 8779 3270 8838 3272 8838
TIME...MOT...LOC 2235Z 235DEG 50KT 3283 8833

$$

GRANTHAM

2 follow-up statements

160 
WWUS54 KBMX 032245
SVSBMX

SEVERE WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
445 PM CST SAT JAN 3 2015

ALC063-107-119-032315-
/O.CON.KBMX.TO.W.0003.000000T0000Z-150103T2315Z/
GREENE AL-PICKENS AL-SUMTER AL-
445 PM CST SAT JAN 3 2015

...A TORNADO WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR NORTH CENTRAL SUMTER...
SOUTHERN PICKENS AND NORTHERN GREENE COUNTIES UNTIL 515 PM CST...

AT 442 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
TORNADO.  THIS TORNADO WAS LOCATED NEAR PANOLA...OR 16 MILES SOUTH OF
ALICEVILLE...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 55 MPH.

LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE...
  ALICEVILLE...NEW WEST GREENE...WEST GREENE...UNION...MANTUA...
  BENEVOLA...JENA...NEW MOUNT HEBRON...PLEASANT RIDGE AND CLINTON.

TO REPORT SEVERE WEATHER...CALL 1-800-856-0758.

LAT...LON 3292 8835 3296 8835 3328 8798 3314 8784
      3302 8783 3301 8779 3275 8828 3292 8836
TIME...MOT...LOC 2245Z 235DEG 50KT 3293 8820

$$

GRANTHAM

213 
WWUS54 KBMX 032256
SVSBMX

SEVERE WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
456 PM CST SAT JAN 3 2015

ALC063-107-119-032315-
/O.CON.KBMX.TO.W.0003.000000T0000Z-150103T2315Z/
GREENE AL-PICKENS AL-SUMTER AL-
456 PM CST SAT JAN 3 2015

...A TORNADO WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR NORTH CENTRAL SUMTER...
SOUTHEASTERN PICKENS AND NORTHERN GREENE COUNTIES UNTIL 515 PM CST...

AT 453 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
TORNADO.  THIS TORNADO WAS LOCATED NEAR NEW WEST GREENE...OR 10 MILES
SOUTH OF ALICEVILLE...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 55 MPH.

LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE...
  UNION...MANTUA...BENEVOLA...JENA...PLEASANT RIDGE...CLINTON...
  LEWISTON...SNODDY AND PIONEER.

TO REPORT SEVERE WEATHER...CALL 1-800-856-0758.

LAT...LON 3325 8795 3314 8784 3302 8783 3301 8779
      3281 8818 3299 8825
TIME...MOT...LOC 2256Z 235DEG 50KT 3300 8809

$$

GRANTHAM

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jan 3, 3:42 AM CST	Flash Flood Watch	BMX	Bibb, Blount, Calhoun, Cherokee, Cleburne, Etowah and 14 more	24 hr
Jan 3, 3:56 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Pickens	32 min
Jan 3, 4:02 PM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Sumter	11 min
Jan 3, 4:27 PM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Sumter	48 min
Jan 3, 4:44 PM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Lamar	46 min
Jan 3, 5:13 PM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Marion	47 min
Jan 3, 5:16 PM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Greene, Tuscaloosa	14 min
Jan 3, 5:29 PM CST	Areal Flood Advisory	BMX	Greene, Lamar, Pickens, Sumter	3 hr
Jan 3, 5:32 PM CST	Special Weather Statement	BMX	Lowndes	43 min
Jan 3, 5:39 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Winston	20 min
Jan 3, 5:49 PM CST	Areal Flood Advisory	BMX	Chilton, Coosa, Shelby, Talladega	3 hr

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Alabama, 2015 Every tornado warning in 2015 Tornadoes 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; local storm reports from the same archive; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.