Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 4, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Feb 28, 1987, 12:15 PM CST for Jefferson County, Tuscaloosa County, Alabama. It was in force for 60 min.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- Feb 28, 1987, 12:15 PM CST (18:15 UTC)
- Expired
- Feb 28, 1987, 1:15 PM CST
- In force
- 60 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Jefferson County, AL, Tuscaloosa 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, 6.3 hours before the alert went out and 58 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
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 461 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 48 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 285 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 296 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.4
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KBHM 281820 SVRBHM ALC073-125-281915- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 1215PM CST SUN FEB 28 1978 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 115PM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN ALABAMA... TUSCALOOSA AND JEFFERSON. AT 1212PM CST RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM JUST EAST OF THE CITY OF TUSCALOOSA MOVING TOWARD THE NORTHEAST AT 50 MILES AN HOUR. THIS SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE INTO WESTERN JEFFERSON COUNTY AROUND 1230PM CST. THESE THUDERSTORMS HAVE PRODUCED SEVERE WEATHER IN MISSISSIPPI. A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IS DEFINED AS HAVING WINDS OF 58 MPH OR STRONGER AND/OR HAIL 3/4 INCH IN DIAMETER OR GREATER.
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, Feb 28, 10:38 AM CST, 1 hour 37 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MONTGOMERY AL 1040 AM CST SAT FEB 28 1987 ...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR MOST OF CENTRAL AND SOUTH ALABAMA UNTIL 4 PM THIS AFTERNOON... WEATHER RADAR AT MONTGOMERY SHOWED SCATTERED VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO WEST ALABAMA AT 1030 AM CST. THE HEAVIEST THUNDERSTORMS WERE OCCURRING JUST NORTHWEST OF DEMOPOLIS...AND JUST EAST OF MILLERS FERRY. THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 50 MPH. ELSEWHERE...WIDESPREAD RAIN...ALONG WITH SOME SCATTERED HEAVY SHOWERS COVERED MOST OF THE WESTERN THIRD OF ALABAMA. PEOPLE IN AND CLOSE TO THE TORNADO WATCH AREA SHOULD REMAIN ALERT FOR SEVERE WEATHER CONDITIONS UNTIL LATER THvIS AFTERNOON. THE HEAVIER THUNDERSTORMS ARE PRODUCING DAMAGING WINDS...TORRENTIAL RAIN AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING. FLOODING OF SMALL STREAMS...INTERSECTIONS AND OTHER LOW LYING AREAS IS ALSO LIKELY.
Special weather statement, Feb 28, 11:38 AM CST, 37 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MONTGOMERY AL 1145 AM CST SAT FEB 28 1987 ...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR MOST OF CENTRAL AND SOUTH ALABAMA UNTIL 4 PM THIS AFTERNOON... WEATHER RADAR AT MONTGOMERY SHOWED WIDESPREAD RAIN...ALONG WITH SCATTERED VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS OVER MOST OF THE WESTERN HALF OF ALABAMA. THE HEAVIEST THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED BETWEEN CENTREVILLE AND SELMA...AND JUST EAST OF CAMDEN. THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 50 MILES AN HOUR. PEOPLE IN AND CLOSE TO THE TORNADO WATCH AREA SHOULD REMAIN ALERT FOR SEVERE WEATHER CONDITIONS UNTIL LATER THIS AFTERNOON. BE PREPARED TO ACT QUICKLY IN THE EVENT THAT A WARNING IS ISSUED...AS LEAD TIMES WILL BE SHORT DUE TO THE EXTRMEMELY RAPID MOVEMENT OF THESE STORMS.
Special weather statement, Feb 28, 11:56 AM CST, 19 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 1155 AM CST SUN FEB 28 1987 ...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR MOST OF CENTRAL AND SOUTH ALABAMA UNTIL 4 PM THIS AFTERNOON...FLASH FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR ALL OF ALABAMA EXCEPT FOR THE SOUTHEAST. WEATHER RADAR SHOWED WIDESPREAD RAIN...ALONG WITH SCATTERED VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE MIDDLE OF THE STATE EXTENDING FROM THE HUNTSVILLE AREA SOUTH TO BIRMINGHAM TO ATMORE. THE HEAVIEST THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE NORTH WERE LOCATED IN COUNTIES OF WINSTON AND CULLMAN. OVER CENTRAL COUNTIES OF BIBB...SOUTHERN TUSCALOOSA AND MARENGO. THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 50 MILES AN HOUR. PEOPLE IN AND CLOSE TO THE TORNADO WATCH AREA SHOULD REMAIN ALERT FOR SEVERE WEATHER CONDITIONS UNTIL LATER THIS AFTERNOON. BE PREPARED TO ACT QUICKLY IN THE EVENT THAT A WARNING IS ISSUED...AS LEAD TIMES WILL BE SHORT DUE TO THE EXTRMEMELY RAPID MOVEMENT OF THESE STORMS.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 28, 10:50 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Greene, Pickens | 60 min |
| Feb 28, 12:50 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Cullman, Walker | 60 min |
| Feb 28, 1:13 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Madison | 52 min |
| Feb 28, 1:13 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Morgan | 33 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Alabama, 1987Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1987
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.