Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 85, NWS Birmingham, AL

July 31, 1986Limestone County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 31, 1986, 1:08 PM CDT for Limestone County, Alabama. It was in force for 67 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 31, 1986, 1:08 PM CDT (18:08 UTC)
Expired
Jul 31, 1986, 2:15 PM CDT
In force
67 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Limestone 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, 6.1 hours before the alert went out and 151 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 1986-07-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 201 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 1986-07-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 175 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
201 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-437 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1888 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
175 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
176 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
4.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAAOO KHSV 311808
SVRHSV
ALC083-311915-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
108 PM CDT THU JUL 31 1986
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL  215 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES:
 
IN NORTH ALABAMA
          ..LIMESTONE

AT 1:08PM CDT... RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM ON
THE NORTHERN EDGE OF LIMESTONE COUNTY AT THE TENNESSEE LINE NEAR
BETHEL TENNESSEE AND LESTER ALABAMA. THE THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING
SOUTHEAST AT 30 MPH.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM.  IF YOU ARE IN ITS PATH YOU SHOULD
PREPARE FOR DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH, LARGE HAIL, AND
DEADLY L	IGHTNING.  PEOPLE OUTSIDE SHOULD MOVE TO A SHELTER,
PREFERABLY INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING BUT STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

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 31, 8:58 AM CDT, 4 hours 10 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MONTGOMERY AL
855 AM CDT THU JUL 31 1986

..ADDITIONAL STORM REPORTS FOR STORMS OF JULY 30 1986..

..420 PM CDT..BARBOUR COUNTY..TREES AND POWERS LINES DOWNED IN%
SOUTHWEST PART OF COUNTY JUST WEST OF LOUISVILLE. REPORT FROM
PEA RIVER ELECTRIC CO-OP.
PETTIT

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 30, 7:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLamar50 min
Jul 30, 7:35 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPickens55 min
Jul 31, 2:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLimestone, Madison, Morgan57 min
Jul 31, 2:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarshall62 min
Jul 31, 3:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXEtowah60 min
Jul 31, 3:05 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLawrence40 min
Jul 31, 3:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarshall61 min
Jul 31, 3:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBlount, St. Clair60 min
Jul 31, 4:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTalladega40 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.