Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 52, NWS Birmingham, AL

July 13, 1986Madison County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 13, 1986, 3:59 PM CDT for Madison County, Alabama. It was in force for 61 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 13, 1986, 3:59 PM CDT (20:59 UTC)
Expired
Jul 13, 1986, 5:00 PM CDT
In force
61 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Madison 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, 9.0 hours before the alert went out and 152 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 1986-07-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 901 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 1986-07-13The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 132 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
901 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-125 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1079 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
132 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
167 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.

000 
TTAAOO KHSV 132059
SVRHSV
ALC089-132200-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
359 PM CDT SUN JUL 13 1986
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL  500 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES:
 
IN NORTH ALABAMA
          ..MADISON

AT 400 PM CDT WINDS AT THE HUNTSVILLE MADISON COUNTY JETPLEX REACH 53
MPH. THIS WAS ASSOCIATED WITH A SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS MOVING EASTWARD
AT 15 MPH.
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH,
DESTRUCTIVE HAIL, DEADLY LIGHTNING AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.  FOR YOUR
PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF YOUR
HOME OR BUSINESS.  HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO DON'T DRIVE
INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.

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, Jul 13, 3:17 PM CDT, 42 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
300 PM CDT FRI JUL 11 1986

AT 315 PM HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS ACCOMPANIED BY STRONG GUSTY WINDS..
HEAVY RAIN AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING WERE LOCATED OVER PORTIONS OF
WINSTON AND EASTERN MARION COUNTIES IN NORTH ALABAMA. THESE
THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TOWARD THE SOUTHEAST AT 20 MPH AND SHOULD
MOVE INTO THE LEWIS SMITH LAKE AREA BETWEEN 3:15 AND 4:00 PM CDT.
BOATERS IN THE LEWIS SMITH~ LAKE AREA SHOULD PAY PARTICULAR ATTENTION
AND SHOULD BE AWARE THAT NEARBY THUNDERSTORMS MAY PRODUCE STRONG
GUSTY WINDS.
Special weather statement, Jul 13, 3:19 PM CDT, 40 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
315 PM CDT SUN JUL 13 1986

AT 315 PM HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS ACCOMPANIED BY STRONG GUSTY WINDS..
HEAVY RAIN AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING WERE LOCATED OVER PORTIONS OF
WINSTON AND EASTERN MARION COUNTIES IN NORTH ALABAMA. THESE
THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TOWARD THE SOUTHEAST AT 20 MPH AND SHOULD
MOVE INTO THE LEWIS SMITH LAKE AREA BETWEEN 3:15 AND 4:00 PM CDT.
BOATERS IN THE LEWIS SMITH LAKE AREA SHOULD PAY PARTICULAR ATTENTION
AND SHOULD BE AWARE THAT NEARBY THUNDERSTORMS MAY PRODUCE STRONG
GUSTY WINDS.

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.