Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 94, NWS Mobile, AL

November 20, 1986Mobile County, Alabama

NWS Mobile, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Nov 20, 1986, 10:20 AM CST for Mobile County, Alabama. It was in force for 60 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Nov 20, 1986, 10:20 AM CST (16:20 UTC)
Expired
Nov 20, 1986, 11:20 AM CST
In force
60 min
Issued by
NWS Mobile, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Mobile 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

Eglin AFB/Valpar, FL (KVPS), launched 12:00Z, 4.3 hours before the alert went out and 164 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, Eglin AFB/Valpar, FL at 12:00Z on 1986-11-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 491 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, Eglin AFB/Valpar, FL at 12:00Z on 1986-11-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 162 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
491 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-6 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
668 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
44 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
162 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
229 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.4
Supercell composite
3.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMOB 201621
SVRMOB
ALC097-201720-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
1020 AM CST THU NOV 20 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
UNTIL 1120 AM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY:

IN SOUTHWEST ALABAMA...MOBILE

AT 1020 AM CST THE MOBILE RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS
MOVING INTO NORTHERN MOBILE COUNTY.  DAMAGING WINDS, VERY HEAVY RAIN AND
FREQUENT LIGHTNING SHOULD BE EXPECTED AS THIS LINE MOVES ACROSS MOBILE
COUNTY DURING THE NEXT HOUR.

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

Special weather statement, Nov 20, 7:50 AM CST, 2 hours 30 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENSACOLA FL
735 AM CST THU NOV 20 1986

AT 730 AM CST...HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS WERE SCATTERED IN A LINE THAT
STRETCHED FROM NEAR CRESTVIEW FLORIDA TO PENSACOLA THEN ON SOUTHWEST
INTO THE GULF. THUNDERSTORMS WERE HEAVIEST AND MOST NUMEROUS IN
SOUTHERN ESCAMBIA COUNTY OF FLORIDA...JUST WEST OF PENSACOLA...AND IN
THE SOUTHEAST CORNER OF BALDWIN COUNTY OF ALABAMA. THE THUNDERSTORMS
WERE MOVING NORTHEAST ABOUT 35 MILES AN HOUR.

VERY HEAVY RAIN CAN BE EXPECTED FROM THE THUNDERSTORMS AS THEY PASS
THROUGH OR NEAR THE PENSACOLA AREA. MOTORISTS ARE URGED TO SLOW DOWN
AND DRIVE WITH THEIR HEADLIGHTS ON.

FLOODING OF STREETS AND LOW PLACES IN URBAN AREAS IS ALSO LIKELY.
Special weather statement, Nov 20, 9:18 AM CST, 1 hour 2 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL.
915 AM CST THU NOV 20 1986

...A NEARLY SOLID LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS IS MOVING ACROSS
SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI AND SOUTHWEST ALABAMA...

AT 910 AM CST MOBILE RADAR SHOWED A NEARLY SOLID LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS
EXTENDING FROM MONTGOMERY TO JACKSON ALABAMA AND ON SOUTHWESTWARD THROUGH
LUMBERTON MISSISSIPPI.  SOME OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE PRODUCING VERY
HEAVY RAINFALL AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS.  THE HEAVIEST STORMS ARE LOCATED
10 MILES WEST OF JACKSON ALABAMA...NEAR WHATLEY...AND NEAR LUMBERTON.

THIS LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS IS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH AND WILL MOVE
THROUGH ALL OF SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI AND SOUTHWEST ALABAMA DURING TMHE
NEXT FEW HOURS.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1000 AM CST FOR CLARKE
COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST ALABAMA AND LAMAR COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI.
STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR THE LATEST WEATHER BULLETINS.
Special weather statement, Nov 20, 9:19 AM CST, 1 hour 1 minute before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
915 AM CST THU NOV 20 1986

...A NEARLY SOLID LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS IS MOVING ACROSS
SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI AND SOUTHWEST ALABAMA...

AT 910 AM CST MOBILE RADAR SHOWED A NEARLY SOLID LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS
EXTENDING FROM MONTGOMERY TO JACKSON ALABAMA AND ON SOUTHWESTWARD THROUGH
LUMBERTON MISSISSIPPI.  SOME OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE PRODUCING VERY
HEAVY RAINFALL AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS.  THE HEAVIEST STORMS ARE LOCATED
10 MILES WEST OF JACKSON ALABAMA...NEAR WHATLEY...AND NEAR LUMBERTON.

THIS LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS IS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH AND WILL MOVE
THROUGH ALL OF SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI AND SOUTHWEST ALABAMA DURING THOE
NEXT FEW HOURS.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1000 AM CST FOR CLARKE
COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST ALABAMA AND LAMAR COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI.
STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR THE LATEST WEATHER BULLETINS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Nov 20, 11:25 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBBaldwin, Mobile65 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.