Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 71, NWS Birmingham, AL

July 28, 1986Bibb County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 28, 1986, 2:55 PM CDT for Bibb County, Alabama. It was in force for 50 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 28, 1986, 2:55 PM CDT (19:55 UTC)
Expired
Jul 28, 1986, 3:45 PM CDT
In force
50 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Bibb 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 12:00Z, 7.9 hours before the alert went out and 13 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 12:00Z on 1986-07-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1180 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 12:00Z on 1986-07-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 0 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
1180 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-71 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1110 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
0 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
0 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
0 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 
TTAA00 KBHM 281959
SVRBHM
ALC007-282045-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
255 PM CDT MON JUL 28 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 345 PM CDT  FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN

ALABAMA... BIBB.

 AT 255 PM CST RADAR INDICATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS LOCATED OVER
NORTH BIBB COUNTY NEAR WEST BLOCKTON AND CENTRAL BIBB COUNTY NEAR
CENTREVILLE MOVING SOUTH AT 20 MPH. HEAVY RAIN..DANGEROUS LIGHTNING..
AND DAMAGING WINDS CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THESE THUNDERSTORMS AS THEY
MOVE THROUGH BIBB COUNTY UNTIL 345 PM CDT.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IS DEFINED AS HAVING WINDS OF 58 MPH OR STRONGER
AND/OR HAIL 3/4 INCH IN DIAMETER OR GREATER.

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 28, 12:42 PM CDT, 2 hours 13 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
1230 PM CDT MON JUL 28 1986

   ...THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING ACROSS NORTH CENTRAL ALABAMA...

SCATTERED HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS HAD BEGUN TO DEVELOP SHORTLY AFTER NOON
OVER PARTS OF NORTH CENTRAL ALABAMA. AT 1230 PM CDT RADAR SHOWED AN
AREA OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS THAT STRETCHED FROM EASTER WALKER COUNTY
ACROSS SOUTHERN CULLMAN AND WESTERN BLOUNT COUNTIES. ANOTHER
THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED NEAR GADSDEN AND ALONG THE CALHOUN/TALLADEGA
COUNTY LINE NEAR LINCOLN.  MOVEMENT OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS WAS TOWARD
THE SOUTH AT 20 MPH.

MORE THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT IS LIKELY DURING THE AFTERNOON. THE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILL +KEEP YOU INFORMED SHOULD ANY OF THE
THUNDERSTORMS BECOME SEVERE.
Special weather statement, Jul 28, 1:29 PM CDT, 1 hour 26 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
130 PM CDT MON JUL 28 1986

     ...THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO THE BIRMINGHAM AREA...

SCATTERED HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEVELOPED ACROSS PORTIONS OF NORTH
CENTRAL AND CENTRAL ALABAMA DURING THE PAST HOUR. AT 125 PM RADAR
SHOWED THE HEAVIEST THUNDERSTORMS OVER SOUTHERN WALKER..AND THE
NORTHERN AND WESTERN PORTIONS OF JEFFERSON COUNTY. MOVEMENT OF THESE
STORMS WAS TOWARD THE SOUTH AT 20 MPH.

THE STRONG THUNDERSTORMS IN NORTHWEST JEFFERSON COUNTY WILL LIKELY MOVE
THROUGH PARTS OF THE BIRMINGHAM AREA BETWEEN 130 PM AND 230 PM CDT.
YOU CAN EXPECT SOME BRIEF HEAVY RAIN AND SOME LIGHTNING AS THESE STORMS
PASS THROUGH THE BIRMINGHAM kAREA.

OTHER HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED NEAR CULLMAN..ANNISTON..AND
TALLADEGA.
Local storm report, Jul 28, 2:44 PM CDT, 11 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
240 PM CDT SUN JUL 27 1986

...AT 150 PM CDT WINDS GUSTED TO 52 MPH WITH HEAVY RAIN..INTENSE
   LIGHTNING AND SMALL HAIL AT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST
   OFFICE IN BIRMINGHAM.
...AT 200 PM CDT PEA SIZE HAIL..VERY HEAVY RAIN..INTENSE LIGHTNING..
   NUMEROUS POWER OUTAGES IN HOMEWOOD..SOUTH BIRMINGHAM SUBURB..
   REPORTED BY BIRMINGHAM AMATEUR RADIO CLUB.
...AT 200 PM CDT PEA SIZE HAIL AT INTERSTATE 65/59.
...AT 205 PM CDT POWER OUTAGES REPORTED IN WESTERN BIRMINGHAM.
...AT 220 PM CDT TUSCALOOSA STATE POLICE REPORT HIGH WINDS..NO
   SPEED ESTIMATE.
...AT 225 PM CDT PEA SIZE HAIL/STRONG GUSTY WINDS/NUMEROUS LIGHTNING
   STRIKES AT ALABASTER/15 MILES S. OF BIRMINGHAM.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 28, 2:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson20 min
Jul 28, 2:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBibb, Tuscaloosa60 min
Jul 28, 2:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXShelby60 min
Jul 28, 5:25 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXChoctaw65 min
Jul 28, 6:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJackson, Madison61 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.