Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 45, NWS Birmingham, AL

July 4, 1987Pickens County, Tuscaloosa County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 4, 1987, 1:49 PM CDT for Pickens County, Tuscaloosa County, Alabama. It was in force for 56 min. 1 report 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
Jul 4, 1987, 1:49 PM CDT (18:49 UTC)
Expired
Jul 4, 1987, 2:45 PM CDT
In force
56 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

Counties Pickens 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.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jul 4, 1:50 PM CDTHail 1.75Pickens, 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 12:00Z, 6.8 hours before the alert went out and 71 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 1987-07-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1448 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 1987-07-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 28 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
1448 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-48 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
876 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
28 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
50 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 041849
SVRBHM
ALC107-125-041945-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
149 PM CDT SAT JUL 4 1987
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL  245 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
 
IN NORTH ALABAMA
          ...PICKENS...TUSCALOOSA
 
RADR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM NEAR REFORM IN PICKENS COUNTY
MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH.  THIS STORM DOWNED A TREE NEAR ETHELSVILLE ON
US 82 AND WILL BE MOVING ACROSS PICKENS INTO TUSCALOOSA COUNTY.
 
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
FOR YOUR PbROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS.  HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO
DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.

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, Jul 4, 9:19 AM CDT, 4 hours 30 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MONTGOMERY AL
915 AM CDT SAT JUL 04 1987

RADAR AT MONTGOMERY SHOWED A BAND OF INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS OVER EAST
CENTRAL ALABAMA AT 910 AM. THE STORMS EXTENDED FROM NEAR ROCKFORD TO
LAKE MARTIN AND INTO WESTERN GEORGIA NEAR LAGRANGE. THE STRONGEST
THUNDERSTORM WAS OVER LAKE MARTIN.

THESE STORMS PRODUCED TORRENTIAL RAINFALL DURING THE NIGHT AND WILL
CONTINUE TO DO SO FOR THE NEXT FEW HOURS. PLEASE REMAIN ALERT IF YOU
LIVE NEAR A SMALL STREAM OR FLOOD PRONE AREA. THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL
ALSO BE PRODUCING EXTREMELY DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS.

STAY TUNED TO LOCAL RADIO OR TV STATIONS OR TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER
SERVICE RAD%IO FOR LATER INFORMATION.

DEVAUGHN
Special weather statement, Jul 4, 11:01 AM CDT, 2 hours 48 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MONTGOMERY AL
1055 AM CDT SAT JUL 04 1987

RADAR AT MONTGOMERY SHOWED NUMEROUS STRONG THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING
OVER SOUTHEAST ALABAMA AT 1045 AM. THE STORMS WERE IN BANDS EXTENDING
FROM NEAR ANDALUSIA TO THE EUFAULA AREA. THE MOST INTENSE STORMS WERE
FROM ANDALUSIA TO ELBA.

THE STORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT AROUND 25 MPH AND WILL BE PRODUCING
STRONG GUSTY WINDS...EXTREMELY DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...VERY HEAVY RAIN
...AND POSSIBLY SOME HAIL.

OTHER INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS WERE OVER RUSSELL COUNTY JUST SOUTHWEST OF
PHENIX CITY. THESE STORMS WERE PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAIN AND MOVING
SOUTHEAST.

SOUTHEAST ALABAMA REDISENTS SHOULD EXPECT RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER
CONDITIONS FOR THE NEXT FEW HOURS.
DEVAUGHN

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 4, 3:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson, Shelby40 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.