Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 2, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Feb 4, 1986, 5:50 PM CST for Hale County, Tuscaloosa County, Alabama. It was in force for 60 min. 2 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.
The facts
- Issued
- Feb 4, 1986, 5:50 PM CST (23:50 UTC)
- Expired
- Feb 4, 1986, 6:50 PM CST
- In force
- 60 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Hale County, AL, Tuscaloosa County, AL
The radar
The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 4, 5:55 PM CST | Thunderstorm Wind 0 | Hale, AL | |
| Feb 4, 6:00 PM CST | Thunderstorm Wind 0 | Hale, AL |
NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in. Storm Data before 1996 records only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail.
The nearest sounding before it
Centreville/Bibb, AL (KCKL), launched 12:00Z, 11.8 hours before the alert went out and 38 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 617 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 41 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 195 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 202 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Feb 4, 2:57 PM CST, 2 hours 53 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 300 PM CST TUE FEB 4 1986 THUNDERSTORMS WERE APPROACHING ALABAMA/S WESTERN BORDER AT 3PM CST. THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE JUST SOUTH OF COLUMBUS MS AND WERE MOVING TOWARD LAMAR, PICKENS AND SUMTER COUNTIES. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE ENBEDDED IN A WIDESPREAD RAIN AREA OVER EASTERN MISSISSIPPI. SOME LIGHT RAIN HAD ALREADY ENTERED PARTS OF WESTERN ALABAMA. THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL LIKELY BE ASSOCIATED WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN AND GUSTY WINDS AS THEY MOVE EASTWARD. OTHER LIGHT SHOWERS WERE OVER CENTRAL ALABAMA FROM AROUND BIRMINGHAM SOUTH TO LINDEN AND DIXON MILLS IN MARENGO COUNTY.
Special weather statement, Feb 4, 3:35 PM CST, 2 hours 15 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 335 PM CST TUE FEB 4 1986 A LINE OF HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS HAVE ENTERED WESTERN ALABAMA SHORTLY AFTER 3PM CST. AT 335PM CST...THIS LINE EXTENDED FROM JUST SOUTH OF VERNON IN LAMAR COUNTY TO JUST WEST OF GORDO IN PICKENS COUNTY. VERY HEAVY RAIN AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS WERE REPORTED WITH THESE THUNDERSTORMS AS THEY MOVED THROUGH REFORM A FEW MINUTES AGO. OTHER THUNDERSTORMS WERE SCATT ERED OVER MARION AND NORTHERN LAMAR COUNTIES. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE ASSOCIATED WITH A LARGE RAIN AREA THAT WAS MOVING INTO WEST CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST ALABAMA AT 330 PM CST. THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT ABOUT 35 MPH.
Special weather statement, Feb 4, 4:47 PM CST, 1 hour 3 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 445 PM CST TUE FEB 4 1986 VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS IN WEST ALABAMA WILL BRING HIGH WINDS... DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...VERY HEAVY RAIN AND POSSIBLE HAIL TO WALKER AND PICKENS COUNTY BETWEEN NOW AND ABOUT 6:00 OCLOCK THIS EVENING. AT 4:45 PM...THE HEAVIEST THUNDERSTORMS WERE IN WALKER COUNTY FROM JUST WEST OF JASPER TO NEAR PARRISH AND OAKMAN. THEY WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35-40 MPH. OTHER VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING INTO PICKENS COUNTY IN WEST-CENTRAL ALABAMA. EVEN MORE INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS IN EAST MISSISSIPPI AROUND MERIDIAN WILL BE MOVING RAPIDLY NORTHEAST INTO WEST ALABAMA. WIND GUSTS TO 55 MPH WERE REPORTED dAT THE MERIDIAN AIRPORT AND THERE WERE REPORTS OF WIND DAMAGE IN JONES COUNTY OF SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI.
Local storm report, Feb 4, 5:48 PM CST, 2 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
544 PM CST TUE FEB 4 1986
AT 520 P.M. CST A TREE WAS REPORTED ACROSS HIGHWAY 17 I MILE NORTH
OF TOXEY IN CHOCTAW COUNTY.
AT 523 P.M. CST A MOTOR HOME WAS OVERTURNED ON I59 NEAR MILE MARKER
17 IN SUMTER COUNTY.
]The office that day
Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 4, 5:30 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Greene | 60 min |
| Feb 4, 5:33 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Marengo | 57 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Alabama, 1986Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1986
Sources
The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.