Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1986
Tornado Warning 22, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Aug 10, 1986, 7:50 PM CDT for Cullman County, Alabama. It was in force for 55 min.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- Aug 10, 1986, 7:50 PM CDT (00:50 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 10, 1986, 8:45 PM CDT
- In force
- 55 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Cullman 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 00:00Z, 0.8 hours before the alert went out and 140 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
- 997 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -34 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1270 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 12 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 29 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 58 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 1.5
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KBHM 110102 COR
TORBHM
ALC043-110045-
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING CORRECTION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
750 PM CDT SUN AUG 10 1986
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 845 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES:
IN NORTH ALABAMA
..CULLMAN
AT 750 PM THE CULLMAN COUNTY SHERIFFS OFFICE REPORTED A TORNADO IN
THE SARDIS AREA MOVING EAST NORTHEAST.
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO, THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT. GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE, SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. USE BLANKETS, PILLOWS, ORu
CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY. AVOID WINDOWS.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
Special weather statement, Aug 10, 2:41 PM CDT, 5 hours 9 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 240 PM CDT SUN AUG 10 1986 A VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM ALONG THE NORTH EDGE OF BIRMINGHAM WILL PRODUCE STRONG WINDS...VERY HEAVY RAIN...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND POSSIBLE HAIL. MAINLY AFFECTED BY THIS BIG THUNDERSTORM WILL BE THE NORTH AND NORTHEAST PART OF THE CITY...INCLUDING THE TARRANT-CENTER POINT WOODLAWN-HUFFMAN-MUNICIPAL AIRPORT AREAS. THE THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 15 MPH. AT 2:36 PM...ALABAMA STATE TROOPERS REPORTED MARBLE SIZE HAIL, VERY HEAVY RAIN AND WINDS ESTIMATED TO 45 MPH ALONG 41ST STREET IN NORTH BIRMINGHAM.
Special weather statement, Aug 10, 3:05 PM CDT, 4 hours 45 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MONTGOMERY AL 305 PM CDT SUN AUG 10 1986 RADAR SHOWED INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS MOVING OVER CENTRAL ALABAMA AT 300 PM. THE STRONGEST STORMS WERE NEAR WETUMPKA...LAKE MARTIN...AND JUST EAST AND SOUTH OF MONTGOMERY. OTHER HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS WERE SCATTERED ALONG THE FLORIDA BORDER NEAR FLORALA. THE STORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 15 MPH AND WILL BE PRODUCING STRONG GUSTY WINDS...INTENSE LIGHTNING...BLINDING RAIN...AND SOME HAIL. TORRENTIAL RAIN AND STRONG WINDS WERE REPORTED IN WETUMPKA AT 245 PM. BOATERS ON LAKE MARTIN SHOULD SEEK SAFE HARBOR. DEVAUGHN
Special weather statement, Aug 10, 3:11 PM CDT, 4 hours 39 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 310 PM CDT SUN AUG 10 1986 A VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM NORTHEAST AND EAST OF BIRMINGHAM WILL PRODUCE STRONG WINDS...VERY HEAVY RAIN...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND POSSIBLE HAIL. MAINLY AFFECTED BY THIS BIG THUNDERSTORM BETWEEN NOW AND ABOUT 3:30 THIS AFTERNOON WILL BE AREA JUST EAST AND NORTHEAST OF BIRMINGHAM INCLUDING LEEDS AND THE NORTHEAST EDGE OF SHELBY COUNTY. THE THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING EAST-NORTHEAST AT 15 MPH. EARLIER...AT 2:36 PM...ALABAMA STATE TROOPERS REPORTED MARBLE SIZE HAIL VERY HEAVY RAIN AND WINDS ESTIMATED TO 45 MPH IN NORTH BIRMINGHAM. THERE WAS AN UNCONFIRMED REPORT OF SOME TREES UPROOTED IN FORESTDALE.
Special weather statement, Aug 10, 5:43 PM CDT, 2 hours 7 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 540 PM CDT SUN AUG 10 1986 VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE ENTERING NORTHWEST ALABAMA LATE THIS AFTERNOON. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL PRODUCE STRONG WINDS, VERY HEAVY RAIN, MUCH DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND POSSIBLE HAIL. MAINLY AFFECTED BY THESE THUNDERSTORMS UNTIL ABOUT 7 PM CDT WILL BE MARION AND LAMAR COUNTIES. THE THUNDERSTORMS APPROACHING LAMAR COUNTY ARE ESPECIALLY STRONG AND A SPECIFIC WARNING MAY BE REQUIRED LATER. AT 5:40 PM...A LINE OF VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED FROM HACKLEBURG AND PHIL CAMPBELL, ALA., SOUTHWEST TO ABDERDEEN AND WEST POINT, MISS. THEY WERE MOVING EAST ABOUT 25 MPH. MEANWHILE...TO THE SOUTH...THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MERIDIAN ISSUED TORNADO WARNINGS LATE THIS AFTERNOON FOR JONES AND WAYNE COUNTIES IN EAST MISSISSIPPI. THESE POWERFUL THUNDERSTORMS MAY MOVE INTO WEST-CENTRAL ALABAMA LATER. THEY WILL BE WATCHED CLOSELY.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 10, 7:54 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Madison | 51 min |
| Aug 10, 8:45 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Pickens, Tuscaloosa | 45 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.