Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1986
Tornado Warning 14, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Mar 12, 1986, 5:25 PM CST for Fayette County, Pickens County, Alabama. It was in force for 65 min.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- Mar 12, 1986, 5:25 PM CST (23:25 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 12, 1986, 6:30 PM CST
- In force
- 65 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Fayette County, AL, Pickens 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, 11.4 hours before the alert went out and 94 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 941 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -117 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 562 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 42 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 295 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 339 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 2.3
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KBHM 122327 TORBHM ALC107-057-130030- BULLETIN-EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 525 PM CST WED MAR 12 1986 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 630 PM CST FOR PERSONS IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN WEST-CENTRAL ALABAMA... PICKENS...AND FAYETTE MORE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS...POSSIBALY CONTAINING A TORNADO WERE MOVING INTO WEST-CENTRAL ALABAMA AT 5:25 PM. THEY WERE MOVING RAPIDLY NORTHEAST...AT ABOUT 55 MPH. A TORNADO WARNING ALSO REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM FOR CULLMAN AND WALKER COUNTY. PERSONS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM SHOULD TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this tornado 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, Mar 12, 2:45 PM CST, 2 hours 40 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
245 PM CST WED MAR 12 1986
...AT 2:10 PM CST...ALABAMA STATE TROOPERS REPORT WIND DAMAGE IN
EAST-CENTRAL ALABAMA. THE ROOF OF A SERVICE STATION WAS
DAMAGED ON STATE ROUTE 21 NORTH OF TALLADEGA. A GASOLINE
PUMP AND AUTOMOBILE WAS ALSO DAMAGED AT THE SERVICE STATION.
...AT 2:30 PM...THE EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY IN GADSDEN
REPORTED SOME TREE DAMAGE IN ETOWAH COUNTY.
-
]Local storm report, Mar 12, 3:18 PM CST, 2 hours 7 minutes before
STORM REPORTS NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 3:15 PM CST WED MAR 12 1986 ...AT 3:15 PM CST THE PICKENS COUNTY SHERRIF'S OFFICE IN WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA REPORTS AT LEAST TWO PERSONS K]ILLED AND A NUMBER OF INJURIES FROM A TORNADO. THE TORNADO STRUCK BETWEEN PICKENSVILLE AND CARROLLTON AROUND 2:15 THIS AFTERNOON. AMBULANCES HAVE BEEN DISPATCHED. THERE IS EXTENSIVE DAMAGE IN THE AREA.
Local storm report, Mar 12, 3:49 PM CST, 1 hour 36 minutes before
STORM REPORTS NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 3:45 PM CST WED MAR 12 1986 ...THE PICKENS COUNTY SHERRIF'S OFFICE AND ALABAMA STATE TROOPERS REPORT EXTENSIVE TORNADO DAMAGE IN PICKENS COUNTY OF WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA AROUND 2:15 TO 2:30 PM CST THIS AFTERNOON. REPORTS ARE STILL SKETCHY. THE WORST DAMAGE WAS BETWEEN CARROLLTON AND PICKENSVILLE. EARLY REPORTS INDICATE AT LEAST TWO PERSONS KILLED. THERE ARE A NUMBER OF INJURIES BUT THE EXACT NUMBER IS NOT KNOWN. POWER INTERRUPTIONS ARE HINDERING REPORTS. POWER IS OUT IN MOST OF KENNEDY...LOCATED IN LAMAR COUNTY. ...AT 3:34 PM...THE BIRMINGHAM AMATEUR RADIO CLUB REPORTED LARGE HAIL...GOLF BALL SIZE...3 MILES SOUTH OF GUIN IN MARION COUNTY. ...AT 3:45 PM...THE MARION COUNTY EMA OFFICE AT HAMILTON REPORTED A TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN ON STATE ROUTE 36 WEST OF BRILLIANT. TREES ARE DOWN AND THERE HAS BEEN PROPERTY DAMAGE. OFFICIALS ARE ENROUTE TO THE AREA.
Local storm report, Mar 12, 5:17 PM CST, 8 minutes before
STORM REPORTS NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 5:15 PM CST WED MAR 12 1986 ...AT 5:11 PM...THE CULLMAN COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE REPORTED A FUNNEL CLOUD OVER NORTHWEST CULLMAN COUNTY NEAR HIGHW AY 157. WHEN A FUNNEL CLOUD REACHES THE GROUND IT IS A TORNADO. THIS ONE COULD TOUCH DOWN AT ANY TIME. THE AREA IS ALREADY UNDER A TORNADO WARNING. RESIDENTS SHOULD CONTINUE TO TAKE COVER.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 12, 1:25 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Pickens | 65 min |
| Mar 12, 2:30 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Fayette, Lamar, Pickens | 60 min |
| Mar 12, 3:08 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Marion | 67 min |
| Mar 12, 3:35 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Winston | 40 min |
| Mar 12, 3:35 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Fayette, Lamar, Pickens | 40 min |
| Mar 12, 3:56 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Franklin, Lawrence | 64 min |
| Mar 12, 4:10 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Colbert, Franklin, Lawrence | 65 min |
| Mar 12, 4:12 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Marion, Winston | 63 min |
| Mar 12, 4:12 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Fayette, Lamar, Pickens | 63 min |
| Mar 12, 4:25 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Marengo | 65 min |
| Mar 12, 4:25 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | St. Clair | 65 min |
| Mar 12, 4:30 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Tuscaloosa | 60 min |
| Mar 12, 4:55 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Walker | 65 min |
| Mar 12, 5:02 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Cullman | 58 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Alabama, 1986Every tornado warning in 1986Tornadoes 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.