Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 21, NWS Birmingham, AL

March 12, 1986Cullman County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 12, 1986, 6:55 PM CST for Cullman County, Alabama. It was in force for 65 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
Mar 12, 1986, 6:55 PM CST (00:55 UTC)
Expired
Mar 12, 1986, 8:00 PM CST
In force
65 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Cullman 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Mar 12, 7:00 PM CSTHail 0.75Cullman, AL
Mar 12, 7:32 PM CSTThunderstorm Wind 56Cullman, 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 00:00Z, 0.9 hours before the alert went out and 140 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, Centreville/Bibb, AL at 00:00Z on 1986-03-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 107 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Centreville/Bibb, AL at 00:00Z on 1986-03-13The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 279 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
107 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-51 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1390 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
83 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
279 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
358 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
0.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KBHM 130054
SVRBHM
ALC073-043-130200-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
655 PM CST WED MAR 12 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 8:00 PM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN
NORTH-CENTRAL ALABAMA...

...JEFFERSON AND CULLMAN...

A LINE OF INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS WAS APPROACHING THE WEST EDGE OF BOTH
CULLMAN AND JEFFERSON COUNTIES AT 6:55 PM. THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
WERE MOVING RAPIDLY NORTHEAST.

IT MAY BE NECESSARY TO INCLUDE SOME OTHER COUNTIES LATER. A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM WARNING...ISSUED EARLIER...REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 7:30
FOR WALKER...TUSCALOOSA AND GREENE CeOUNTIES.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 12, 6:27 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTuscaloosa, Walker63 min
Mar 12, 6:27 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXGreene63 min
Mar 12, 6:55 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson65 min
Mar 12, 7:03 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXHale, Marengo57 min
Mar 12, 7:33 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMorgan57 min
Mar 12, 7:40 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXCullman50 min
Mar 12, 7:56 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMadison64 min
Mar 12, 7:57 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXBlount63 min
Mar 12, 8:08 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPerry52 min
Mar 12, 8:51 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJackson, Marshall54 min
Mar 12, 9:11 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXGreene, Tuscaloosa64 min
Mar 12, 9:27 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPickens48 min
Mar 12, 9:52 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson38 min
Mar 13, 12:45 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCullman45 min
Mar 13, 1:06 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMorgan24 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.