Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 99, NWS Birmingham, AL

August 7, 1986Limestone County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 7, 1986, 5:53 PM CDT for Limestone County, Alabama. It was in force for 67 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 7, 1986, 5:53 PM CDT (22:53 UTC)
Expired
Aug 7, 1986, 7:00 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, 10.9 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 1986-08-07Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1196 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 1986-08-07The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 125 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
1196 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-43 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
914 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
125 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
119 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.4
Supercell composite
3.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAAOO KHSV 072253
SVRHSV
ALC033-077-083-080000-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
553 PM CDT THU AUG  7 1986
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL  700 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES:
 
IN NORTH ALABAMA
          ..COLBERT..LAUDERDALE..LIMESTONE

AT 555 PM CDT RADAR SHOEWD A CLUSTER OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
EXTENDING FROM FLORENCE IN LAUDERDALE COUNTY ACROSS NORTHWEST COLBERT
COUNTY. ANOTHER SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED JUST WEST OF THE ELK
RIVER MOVING TOWARDS LIMESTONE COUTY ALABAMA
WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING, PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A
STRONG BUILDING.  DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS.  DON'T USE TELEPHONES
OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL THE STORM
HAS PASSED.  MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE INTO LOW WATER CROSSINGS.
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE, SEEK SHELTER FROM THE WEATHER IN A
STRONG BUILDING.  DAMAGING WIND, LARGE HAIL, VERY HEAVY RAIN, AND
DEADLY LIGHTNING ARE ALL POSSIBLE IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.  STAY
INSIDE AWAY FROM WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 7, 5:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXColbert, Lauderdale67 min
Aug 7, 6:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLawrence, Morgan68 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.