Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 38, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 24, 1986, 6:55 PM CDT for Marion County, Winston County, Alabama. It was in force for 65 min.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- May 24, 1986, 6:55 PM CDT (23:55 UTC)
- Expired
- May 24, 1986, 8:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 65 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Marion County, AL, Winston 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
Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 12:00Z, 11.9 hours before the alert went out and 240 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
- 1408 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -59 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 717 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 32 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 19 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 141 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 4.6
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, May 24, 3:14 PM CDT, 3 hours 41 minutes before
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</html>Special weather statement, May 24, 4:42 PM CDT, 2 hours 13 minutes before
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</html>Special weather statement, May 24, 5:54 PM CDT, 1 hour 1 minute before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 555 PM CDT SAT MAY 24 1986 INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS IN NORTHWEST ALABAMA WILL CAUSE DANGEROUS FREQUENT LIGHTNING...VERY HEAVY RAIN...AND POSSIBLE STRONG WINDS AND HAIL IN MARION COUNTY UNTIL ABOUT 7 PM. IF THE THUNDERSTORMS GROW STRONGER...AN ACTUAL WARNING MAY BE ISSUED. AT 5:55 PM...INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS COVER MUCH OF WEST AND NORTH MARION COUNTY. THEY WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AFT 15 MPH. THEY WILL BE MOVING ACROSS THE HAMILTON-HACKLEBURG AREA BEFORE 6:30. THE STRONG THUNDERSTORM THAT MOVED INTO NORTHWEST CULLMAN COUNTY WEAKENED AFTER CROSSING THE WINSTON/CULLMAN COUNTY LINE.
Local storm report, May 24, 6:06 PM CDT, 49 minutes before
STORM REPORT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 605 PM CDT SAT MAY 24 1986 ...ALABAMA STATE TROOPERS REPORT MARBLE SIZE HAIL 5 MILES WEST-NORTHWEST OF HAMILTON IN NORTHWEST ALABAMA'S MARIONQ COUNTY. THE HAIL OCCURED AT 5:50 PM CDT.
Local storm report, May 24, 6:25 PM CDT, 30 minutes before
STORM REPORTS NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 625 PM CDT SAT MAY 24 1986 ...ALABAMA STATE TROOPERS REPORT MARBLE SIZE HAIL CONTINUING AT HAMILTON IN NORTHWEST ALABAMA'S MARION COUNTY. BY^ 6:25 PM THE HAIL HAD BEEN FALLING ABOUT 20 MINUTES. A FEW HAILSTONES WERE LARGER THAN MARBLE SIZE. THE HAIL WAS COVERING THE GROUND AT THE STATE TROOPER POST.
Special weather statement, May 24, 6:37 PM CDT, 18 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 635 PM CDT SAT MAY 24 1986 ...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 11:00 OCLOCK TONIGHT FOR A LARGE PART OF NORTH AND WEST-CENTRAL ALABAMA... AT 6:35 PM CDT...A LINE OF INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS NORTHWEST ALABAMA EXTENDED FROM EXTREME NORTH LAMAR COUNTY THROUGH HAMILTON...HACKLEBURG AND PHIL CAMPBELL AND INTO LAWRENCE COUNTY. THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HUNTSVILLE CONTINUES A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR LAWRENCE AND LIMESTONE COUNTY UNTIL 7PM. A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING MAY BE NEEDED AT ANY MOMENT FOR SOME OTHER COUNTIES. THE THUNDERSTORMS IN MARION COUNTY ARE ALMOST SEVERE. ASo OF 6:25 PM...MARBLE SIZE HAIL HAD BEEN FALLING IN HAMILTON FOR ABOUT 20 MINUTES AND ALABAMA STATE TROOPERS REPORTED THAT THE GROUND WAS COVERED. THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 15 MPH.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 24, 5:18 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Colbert, Franklin | 57 min |
| May 24, 5:18 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lauderdale | 57 min |
| May 24, 5:57 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lawrence, Limestone | 63 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.