Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 69, NWS Birmingham, AL

September 10, 1987Jefferson County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Sep 10, 1987, 6:40 PM CDT for Jefferson County, Alabama. It was in force for 50 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Sep 10, 1987, 6:40 PM CDT (23:40 UTC)
Expired
Sep 10, 1987, 7:30 PM CDT
In force
50 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Jefferson 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, 11.7 hours before the alert went out and 78 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 1987-09-10Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1134 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 1987-09-10The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 35 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
1134 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-41 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
973 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
17 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
35 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
56 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 102340
SVRBHM
ALC073-110030-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
640 PM CDT THU SEP 10 1987
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL  730 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN NORTH ALABAMA
          ...JEFFERSON
 
AT 640 PM A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED ABOUT 17 MILES WEST OF
THE BIRMINGHAM METRO AREA AND MOVING TO THE EAST NORTHEAST AROUND 20
MPH.
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS.6  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, Sep 10, 2:54 PM CDT, 3 hours 46 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
251 PM CDT THU SEP 10 1987

STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO WESTERN ALABAMA.

AT 250 PM STRONG THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING FREQUENT LIGHTNING...
HEAVY RAINFALL...AND STRONG WINDS  WERE LOCATED IN EXTREME EASTERN
MISSISSIPPI NEAR MACON MISSISSIPPI MOVING INTO PICKENS COUNTY...AND
15 MILES WEST OF HAMILTON MOVING INTO MARION COUNTY.

PERSONS IN PICKENS AND MARION COUNTIES SHOULD BE ALERT FOR POSSIBLE
THREATENING WEATHER CONDITIONS AS THESE STORMS MOVE TO THE EAST-
NORTHEAST AT  20 MILES AN HOUR.

OTHER THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL WERE LOCATED
NEAR ALEXANDER CITY IN TALLAPOOSA COUNTY AND NEAR JASPER IvN WALKER
COUNTY.
Special weather statement, Sep 10, 3:53 PM CDT, 2 hours 47 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
350 PM CDT THU SEP 10 1987

STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER NORTHWEST ALABAMA.

AT 350 PM A STRONG THUNDERSTORM PRODUCING FREQUENT LIGHTNING...
HEAVY RAINFALL...AND POSSIBLY STRONG WINDS  WAS LOCATED IN MARION COUNTY
NEAR THE TOWN OF HAMILTON.

PERSONS IN MARION COUNTY SHOULD MOVE INDOORS AS THIS STORM CAN PRODUCE
FREQUENT DEADLY LIGHTNING AS WELL AS LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL.  THE
THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 20 MILES AN HOUR AND
WILL BE AFFECTING MARION AND WESTERN WINSTON COUNTIES UNTIL 430 PM.

OTHER THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL WERE LOCATED
NEAR SPRINGVILLE IN ST CLAIR COUNTY AND IN SOUTHERN RANDOLPH COUNTY.
THE THUNDERSTORM THAT WAS NEAR ALICEVILLE IN PICKENS COUNTY HAS
DISSIPATED INTO A LIGHT RAIN SHOWER.
Special weather statement, Sep 10, 5:41 PM CDT, 59 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
540 PM CDT THU SEP 10 1987

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER CENTRAL ALABAMA...

AT 540 PM A STRONG THUNDERSTORM PRODUCING FREQUENT LIGHTNING...
HEAVY RAINFALL...AND POSSIBLY STRONG WINDS WAS LOCATED IN NORTHERN
TALLADEGA AND SOUTHWESTERN CALHOUN COUNTIES.

THE THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH AND WILL BE
AFFECTING AREAS WEST AND NORTHWEST OF ANNISTON.

OTHER THUN$DERSTORMS PRODUCING LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL WERE LOCATED
AROUND JEMISON IN CHILTON COUNTY AND IN WALKER COUNTY AROUND THE
CARBON HILL AREA. IN ADDITION...A NEW STORM WAS BEGINNING TO FORM
TO THE WEST OF CULLMAN.

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.