Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 77, NWS Birmingham, AL

July 28, 1986Blount County, Etowah County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 28, 1986, 9:40 PM CDT for Blount County, Etowah 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: Jul 28, 1986, 9:40 PM CDT (02:40 UTC)
Expired: Jul 28, 1986, 10:45 PM CDT
In force: 65 min
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL
Area: Whole counties

Counties Blount County, AL, Etowah 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

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Jul 28, 10:00 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 0	Blount, AL
Jul 28, 10:00 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 0	Blount, 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, 2.7 hours before the alert went out and 149 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 1157 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -86 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1419 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

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

Local storm report, Jul 28, 3:41 PM CDT, 5 hours 59 minutes before

STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
340 PM CDT MON JUL 28 1986

...AT 215 PM CDT WIND BLEW ROOF OFF A AMOCO STATION IN WEST END
   SECTION OF BIRMINGHAM. REPORTED BY PUBLIC.
...AT 215 PM CDT MINOR DAMAGE TO SCOREBOARD AT LEGION FIELD IN WEST
   END SECTION OF BIRMINGHAM. ALSO A SMALL TRAILER WAS BLOWN INTO
   AT CAR ON GROUNDS SURROUNDING LEGION FIELD. REPORTED BY PUBLIC.

Special weather statement, Jul 28, 4:15 PM CDT, 5 hours 25 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MONTGOMERY AL
415 PM CDT MON JUL 28 1986

RADAR SHOWED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER CENTRAL ALABAMA AT 410
PM. THE THE STORMS WERE IN A BAND THAT EXTENDED FROM BENTON TO
PINEAPPLE.

THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING SOUTHWEST AT AROUND 15 MPH AND WILL BE
PRODUCING STRONG GUSTY WINDS...INTENSE LIGHTNING...TORRENTIAL RAIN...
AND SOME SMALL HAIL.

DEVAUGHN

Special weather statement, Jul 28, 4:27 PM CDT, 5 hours 13 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
430 PM CDT MON JUL 28 1986

       ...THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO MARENGO COUNTY...

HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE THROUGH MARGENGO COUNTY BET)WEEN
430 AND 530 PM CDT. MOVEMENT OF THESE STORMS WAS TO THE SOUTH AT
ABOUT 20 MPH. PERSONS IN MARENGO COUNTY CAN EXPECT HEAVY RAIN..
INTENSE LIGHTING..AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS AS THESE STRONG THUNDERSTORMS
MOVE THROUGH.

Special weather statement, Jul 28, 9:27 PM CDT, 13 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
925 PM CDT MON JUL 28 1986

INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS ARE MOVING SOUTH THROUGH EXTREME NORTH
AND NORTHEAST ALABAMA TONIGHT.

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HUNTSVILLE HAS ISSUED SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM WARNINGS FOR SEVERAL COUNTIES IN THE TENNESSEE
VALLEY.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE BUILT TO HEIGHTS OF NEARLY 60,000
FEET. WINDS FLOWING OUTWARD FROM THESE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE
BECOME GUSTY DOWN INTO CULLMAN AND BLOUNT COUNTY.

AT 9:25 PM...THE MOST INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS WERE STILL IN
MARSHALL COUNTY. HOWEVER...THEY WERE APPROACHING THE NORTH
EDGE OF ETOWAH AND BLOUNT COUNTY AND THE NORTHEAST EDGE OF
CULLMAN COUNTY. IT MAY BE NECESSARY TO ISSUE A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
WARNING FOR SOME OF THESE COUNTIES LATER.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 28, 8:01 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Jackson, Madison	59 min
Jul 28, 8:22 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Madison, Marshall	68 min
Jul 28, 9:26 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Marshall	64 min
Jul 28, 9:40 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Cullman	65 min
Jul 28, 10:10 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	St. Clair	65 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Alabama, 1986 Every 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.