Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 65, NWS Birmingham, AL

August 18, 1987Chilton County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 18, 1987, 3:06 PM CDT for Chilton County, Alabama. It was in force for 54 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 18, 1987, 3:06 PM CDT (20:06 UTC)
Expired
Aug 18, 1987, 4:00 PM CDT
In force
54 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Chilton 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, 8.1 hours before the alert went out and 45 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 1987-08-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1921 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 1987-08-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -47 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
1921 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-39 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
651 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
5 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-47 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
4 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

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, Aug 18, 2:34 PM CDT, 32 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MONTGOMERY AL
225 PM CDT TUE AUG 18 1987

AT 220 PM CDT MONTGOMERYS WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A NUMBER OF STRONG
THUNDERSTORMS IN SOUTH CENTRAL ALBAMA. THE STRONGEST STORMS WERE FOUND
IN AUTAUGA COUNTY...WEST AND NORTHWEST OF PRATTVILLE. OTHER STORMS OF
NOTABLE STRENGTH WERE OBSERVED IN WILCOX COUNTY WEST OF CAMDEN...
CHAMBERS COUNTY WEST OF LAFAYETTE AND LEE COUNTY NORTH OF OPELIKA.
THE STORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 10-15 MPH.

THESE ARE STRONG STORMS AND WILL BE ACCOMPANIED BY STRONG GUSTY WINDS
...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...HEAVY RAIN AND SOME HAIL.  PERSONS IN THE
VICINITY OF THESE STORMS SHOULD STAY AWAY FROM METAL OBJECTS SUCH AS
FENCES AND MET%AL DOORS AND SECURE OBJECTS LIKELY TO BLOW AWAY IN
STRONG WINDS.

RESIDENTS OF SOUTH CENTRAL ALABAMA SHOULD BE ON THE ALERT FOR RAPIDLY
CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS FOR THE DURATION OF THE AFTERNOON.

SNELL
Special weather statement, Aug 18, 2:37 PM CDT, 29 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
235 PM CDT TUE AUG 18 1987

STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE OCCURRING ACROSS CENTRAL ALABAMA THIS
AFTERNOON.

AT 235 PM...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED IN WESTERN GREENE
COUNTY NEAR BOLIGEE...IN WESTERN HALE COUNTY SOUTH OF AKRON...AND
JUST EAST OF MARION IN PERRY COUNTY.  THESE STORMS WILL HAVE HEAVY
RAINFALL...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND MAY PRODUCE GUSTY WINDS AND
POSSIBLY SOME HAIL,.

THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TO THE SOUTHEAST AT 15 MPH AND WILL
BE AFFECTING PERSONS IN SOUTHERN SECTIONS OF GREENE...HALE AND PERRY
COUNTIES.

PERSONS SHOULD MOVE INDOORS AS THESE STORMS APPROACH DUE TO THE
DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.
Special weather statement, Aug 18, 2:57 PM CDT, 9 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
255 PM CDT TUE AUG 18 1987

STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING INTO WESTERN ALABAMA.

AT 255 PM...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS LOCATED IN EASTERN MISSISSIPPI
NEAR COLUMBUS WERE MOVING INTO PICKENS COUNTY IN WESTERN ALABAMA.
PERSONS IN PICKENS COUNTY CAN EXPECT HEAVY RAINFALL...DANGEROUS
LIGHTNING...GUSTY WINDS AND POSSIBLY SOME HAIL AS THIS STORM
MOVES THROUGH THE COUNTY BETWEEN 3 AND 4 PM.

OTHER THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING WERE
LOCATED JUST SOUTH OF BIRMINGHAM INTO SHELBY COUNTY.

THE STORMS WERE MOVING TO THE SOUTHEAST AT 15 MPH.

PERSONS SHOULD MOVE INDOORS AS THESE STORMS MOVE THROUGH THE AREA
DUE TOR THE FREQUENT LIGHTNING.  REMEMBER LIGHTNING STRIKES WITHOUT
WARNING.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 17, 8:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPickens43 min
Aug 18, 3:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFayette, Lamar, Marion44 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.