Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1987
Tornado Warning 5, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Aug 5, 1987, 6:54 PM CDT for Greene County, Alabama. It was in force for 36 min.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- Aug 5, 1987, 6:54 PM CDT (23:54 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 5, 1987, 7:30 PM CDT
- In force
- 36 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Greene 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, 11.9 hours before the alert went out and 70 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
- 445 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -105 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1053 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 4 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -15 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 17 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KBHM 052354
TORBHM
ALC063-060030-
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
654 PM CDT WED AUG 5 1987
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 730 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
IN SOUTH ALABAMA
...SOUTHERN GREENE
RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO IN SOUTHERN GREENE COUNTY AT 654
PM CDT. THE THUNDERSTORM CONTAINING THE POSSIBLE TORNADO WAS JUST
NORTH OF DEMOPOLIS AND WAS MOVING VERY SLOWLY TO THE WEST.
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT. GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR (ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY. AVOID WINDOWS.What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this tornado 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 5, 3:59 PM CDT, 2 hours 55 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MONTGOMERY AL 345 PM CDT WED AUG 5 1987 AT 335PM CDT WEATHER RADAR AT MONTGOMERY SHOWED A SHORT LINE OF VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS HAD DEVELOPED OVER CENTRAL ALABAMA BETWEEN CLANTON AND MONROEVILLE. THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED OVER WILCOX COUNTY JUST EAST OF CAMDEN. THIS LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WAS MOVING EAST AT 15 MILES AN HOUR. ELSEWHERE..A FEW INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS WERE OVER...ELM'ORE...MONTGOMERY... BUTLER AND CRENSHAW COUNTIES. PERSONS NEAR THESE STORMS MAY EXPECT LOCALLY HEAVY DOWNPOURS OF RAIN... VERY INTENSE DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND STRONG GUSTY SURFACE WINDS.
Special weather statement, Aug 5, 5:49 PM CDT, 1 hour 5 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MONTGOMERY AL 545 PM CDT WED AUG 5 1987 AT 545PM CDT WEATHER RADAR AT MONTGOMERY SHOWED A VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MID WAY BETWEEN LINDEN AND CAMDEN IN WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA. THIS THUNDERSTORMS WAS MOVING SLOWLY TO THE WEST AND HAIL WAS ALSO INDICATED BY RADAR. PERSONS NEAR THIS STORM CAN EXPECT HEAVY DOWNPOURS OF RAIN...VERY INTENSE DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...STRONG GUSTY SURFACE WINDS...AND HAIL.
Special weather statement, Aug 5, 6:43 PM CDT, 11 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 640 PM CDT WED AUG 5 1987 A VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM IN NORTH CENTRAL ALABAMA WILL BRING DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...POSSIBLE STRONG WINDS AND VERY HEAVY RAIN TO EAST CULLMAN AND NORTH BLOUNT COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL ALABAMA. AT 640 PM...THE VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS ALONG THE CULLMAN/BLOUNT COUNTY LINE ABOUT 15 MILES EAST OF THE CITY OF CULLMAN. THE STRONGEST PART OF THE THUNDERSTORM WAS NEAR HOLLY POND AND NORTH OF BLOUTSVILLE. IT WAS MOVING VERY LITTLE. THE THUNDERSTORM SHOULD DECREASE BEFORE 730 PM. IT WAS PART OF A STRONG LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS THAT EXTENDED INTO NORTHEAST ALABAMA NEAR ALBERTVILLE AND COLLINSVILLE.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 5, 5:59 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Marengo | 26 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Alabama, 1987Every tornado warning in 1987Tornadoes 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.