Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 16, NWS Mobile, AL

March 12, 1986Lowndes County, Alabama

NWS Mobile, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 12, 1986, 11:30 PM CST for Lowndes County, Alabama. It was in force for 60 min. 2 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
Mar 12, 1986, 11:30 PM CST (05:30 UTC)
Expired
Mar 13, 1986, 12:30 AM CST
In force
60 min
Issued by
NWS Mobile, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Lowndes County, AL

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Mar 12, 11:35 PM CSTThunderstorm Wind 0Lowndes, AL
Mar 12, 11:35 PM CSTThunderstorm Wind 0Lowndes, AL

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in. Storm Data before 1996 records only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail.

The nearest sounding before it

Centreville/Bibb, AL (KCKL), launched 00:00Z, 5.5 hours before the alert went out and 98 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 00:00Z on 1986-03-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 107 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 00:00Z on 1986-03-13The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 279 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
107 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-51 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1390 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
83 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
279 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
358 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
0.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMGM 130528
SVRMGM
ALC085-130630-

BULLETIN...IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MONTGOMERY AL
1130 PM CST WED MAR 12 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1230 AM CST FOR LOWNDES COUNTY IN SOUTH ALABAMA.

AT 1130 PM RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS FROM NEAR
AUTAUGAVILLE SOUTHWARD TO SOUTHWEST LOWNDES COUNTY.

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE MOVING TOWAlRD THE NORTH NORTHEAST AT NEAR
50 MPH AND WILL PASS OVER THE BENTON AND JONES BLUFF AREAS.
BE READY TO TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES YOUR
AREA.

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, Mar 12, 6:59 PM CST, 4 hours 31 minutes before
ATTN SELS
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
700 PM CST WED MAR 12 1986

HARRISON COUNTY MISSISSIPPI CIVIL DEFENSE REPORTED TREES DOWN
ABOUT 2 MILES NORTHWEST OF DOWNTOWN GULFPORT.m  TIME ESTIMATED
ABOUT 600 PM.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 12, 8:38 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBClarke67 min
Mar 12, 10:30 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBLowndes45 min
Mar 12, 11:10 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBAutauga50 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.