Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 32, NWS Birmingham, AL

March 13, 1986Morgan County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 13, 1986, 1:06 AM CST for Morgan County, Alabama. It was in force for 24 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Mar 13, 1986, 1:06 AM CST (07:06 UTC)
Expired
Mar 13, 1986, 1:30 AM CST
In force
24 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Morgan County, AL

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

The nearest sounding before it

Centreville/Bibb, AL (KCKL), launched 00:00Z, 7.1 hours before the alert went out and 176 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°0°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 KHSV 130706
SVRHSV
ALC103-130730-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
106 AM CST THU MAR 13 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 130 AM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTY OF

EXTREME NORTH ALABAMA...MORGAN

AT 1:05 AM CST... RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM IN SOUTHERN MORGAN COUNTY BETWEEN FALKVILLE AND
THE COUNTY LINE.

THE THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING NORTH-NORTHEAST AT 65 MPH.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE WINDS OF AT LEAST 58 MPH AND
HAIL AT LEAST 3/4 INCH IN DIAMETER.

PLEASE REPORT STORM DAMAGE TO YOUR LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OR
CIVIL DEFENSE AGENCIES.

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

Local storm report, Mar 12, 7:26 PM CST, 5 hours 40 minutes before
STORM REPORTS
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
725 PM CST WED MAR 12 1986

...AT 7:23 PM...THE CULLMAN COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE REPORTS
   MARBLE SIZE HAIL IN THE BATTLE GROUND COMMUNITY. THIS IS
   LOCATED IN EXTREME NORTHWEST CULLMAN COUNTY ALONG STATE
   ROUTE 157. EARLIER...LARGE HAIL...THREE-FOURTHS INCH IN
   DIAMETER WAS REPORTED NEAR THE CULLMAN/WINSTON COUNTY LINE
   SOUTH OF THE JONES CHAPEL COMMUNITY.

   THESE COMMUNITIES ARE IN NORTH-CENTRAL ALABAMA ABOUT 55 MILES
   NORTH OF BIRMINGHAM.
Local storm report, Mar 12, 7:35 PM CST, 5 hours 31 minutes before
STORM REPORTS
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
735 PM CST WED MAR 12 1986

...AT 7:23 PM...THE CULLMAN COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE REPORTS
   MARBLE SIZE HAIL IN THE BATTLE GROUND COMMUNITY. THIS IS
   LOCATED IN EXTREME NORTHWEST CULLMAN COUNTY ALONG STATE
   ROUTE 157. EARLIER...LARGE HAIL...THREE-FOURTHS INCH IN
   DIAMETER WAS REPORTED NEAR THE CULLMAN/WINSTON COUNTY LINE
   SOUTH OF THE JONES CHAPEL COMMUNITY.

...AT 7:32 PM...THE CULLMAN COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE REPORTED
   WINDS ESTIMATED TO 65 MPH ALONG WITH HAIL IN THE WEST POINT
   COMMUNITY IN WEST CULLMAN COUNTY.

   THESE COMMUNITIES ARE IN NORTH-CENTRAL ALABAMA ABOUT 55 MILES
   NORTH OF BIRMINGHAM.
Local storm report, Mar 12, 9:55 PM CST, 3 hours 11 minutes before
STORM REPORTS
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
955 PM CST WED MAR 12 1986

...THE BIRMINGHAM AMATEUR RADIO CLUB...REPORTS TORNADO DAMAGE
   AT ARAB IN NORTHEAST ALABAMA'S MARSHALL COUNTY. FOUR PERSONS
   WERE CARRIED TO THE HOSPITAL. VEHICLES HAVE BEEN OVERTURNED.
   NUMEROUS TREES AND POWER LINES ARE DOWN...ESPECIALLY ALONG
   HIGHWAY 69 BETWEEN ARAB AND GUNTERSVILLE.

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 WarningBMXCullman65 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

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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.