Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1986

Tornado Warning 21, NWS Birmingham, AL

August 10, 1986Marion County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Aug 10, 1986, 6:43 PM CDT for Marion County, Alabama. It was in force for 47 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 10, 1986, 6:43 PM CDT (23:43 UTC)
Expired
Aug 10, 1986, 7:30 PM CDT
In force
47 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Marion 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, 11.7 hours before the alert went out and 152 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 1986-08-10Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 707 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 1986-08-10The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -30 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
707 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-32 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
748 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
4 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-30 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-17 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 102344
TORBHM
ALC093-133-110045-
BULLETIN-EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
643 PM CDT SUN AUG 10 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE
UNTIL 745 PM CDT FOR PERSONS IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN

NORTHWEST ALABAMA... MARION AND WINSTON

AT 643 PM...RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 5 MILES WEST OF DOUBLE
SPRINGS. IT WAS MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH.

STATE TROOPERS ALSO REPORT A TORNADO POSSIBBLY ON THE GROUND TWO
MILES NORTH OF BRILLIANT IN EAST MARION COUNTY. IT TOO WAS
MOVING EAST.

PERSONS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM SHOULD TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 10, 6:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMadison55 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.