Alert archive / Alabama / Flash Flood Warnings in 1989

Flash Flood Warning 5, NWS Birmingham, AL

March 5, 1989Limestone County, Madison County, Morgan County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this flash flood warning at Mar 5, 1989, 2:54 PM CST for Limestone County, Madison County, Morgan County, Alabama. It was in force for 4 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Mar 5, 1989, 2:54 PM CST (20:54 UTC)
Expired
Mar 5, 1989, 7:00 PM CST
In force
4 hr
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

Counties Limestone County, AL, Madison County, AL, Morgan 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

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 12:00Z, 8.9 hours before the alert went out and 163 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 1989-03-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 1989-03-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -114 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
519 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
60 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-114 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
81 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 flash flood 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, Mar 5, 11:15 AM CST, 3 hours 39 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MONTGOMERY AL
1110 AM CST SUN MAR 5 1989

...TORNADO WATCH 23 IN EFFECT UNTIL 4 PM CST FOR CHILTON...DALLAS...
AND WILCOX COUNTIES OF CENTRAL ALABAMA AND MOST OF WEST ALABAMA...

AT 1105 AM MONTGOMERY WEATHER RADAR SHOWED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
OVER WEST AND NORTHWEST ALABAMA. MOVEMENT OF THESE STORMS WAS TO THE
NORTH-NORTHEAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR.

OTHER THUNDERSTORMS WERE BEGINNING TO DEVELOP AND MOVE INTO SOUTHWEST
ALABAMA.

THE POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE WEATHER BECOMES STRONGER EACH HOUR FOR CENTRAL
ALABAMA. THEREFORE...PREPRATIONS FOR SEVERE WEATHER SHOULD CONTINUE.

HILTON
Local storm report, Mar 5, 11:38 AM CST, 3 hours 16 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
 1135 AM CST SUN MARCH 5 1989

...AT 700 AM CST, TREES AND POWER LINES WERE BLOWN DOWN NEAR
   PHIL CAMPBELL IN FRANKLIN COUNTY ALABAMA.
...AT 1005 AM CST, TREES WERE BLOWN DOWN AT THE WAYSIDE COMMUNITY
   NEAR GUIN IN MARION COUNTY. MARBLE SIZE HAIL AND WIND GUSTS TO
   55 MPH WERE ALSO REPORTED IN THE SAME AREA.
...AT 1005 AM CST, MARBLE SIZE HAIL REPORTED AT THE BEAVERTON
   COMMUNITY IN LAMAR C4OUNTY.
...AT 1100 AM CST, TREES WERE BLOWN ONTO POWER LINES IN THE NATURAL
   BRIDGE AND LYNN AREAS OF WINSTON COUNTY.
Special weather statement, Mar 5, 12:29 PM CST, 2 hours 25 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MONTGOMERY AL
1230 AM CST SUN MAR 5 1989

...TORNADO WATCH 23 IN EFFECT UNTIL 4 PM CST FOR CHILTON...DALLAS...
AND WILCOX COUNTIES OF CENTRAL ALABAMA AND MOST OF WEST ALABAMA...

AT 1225 PM MONTGOMERY WEATHER RADAR SHOWED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
OVER WEST AND NORTHWEST ALABAMA. MOVEMENT OF THESE STORMS WAS TO THE
NORTH-NORTHEAST AT 40 MILES AN HOUR.

OTHER THUNDERSTORMS WERE BEGINNING TO DEVELOP AND MOVE INTO SOUTHWEST
ALABAMA. A STRONG THUNDERSTORM MOVED INTO WILCOX COUNTY DURING THE PAST
HOUR.

THE POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE WEATHER REMAINS STRONG FOR CENTRAL ALABAMA.
THEREFORE...PREPRATIONS FOR SEVERE WEATHER SHOULD CONTINUE.

HILTO)N
Special weather statement, Mar 5, 2:45 PM CST, 9 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
 243 PM CST SUN MAR 5 1989

THE TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 23 HAS BEEN CANCELLED FOR THE FOLLOWING
COUNTIES IN NORTHWEST ALABAMA...

LAUDERADALE...COLBERT...FRANKLIN...MARION...LAMAR.

THE WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR COUNTIES TO THE EAST OF THESE COUNTIES.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 5, 12:35 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXColbert, Franklin55 min
Mar 5, 12:52 AM CSTTornado WarningBMXColbert, Franklin68 min
Mar 5, 6:02 AM CSTTornado WarningBMXFranklin, Lawrence58 min
Mar 5, 6:38 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLamar, Marion52 min
Mar 5, 9:14 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLamar61 min
Mar 5, 9:59 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarion61 min
Mar 5, 10:47 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXWinston58 min
Mar 5, 12:47 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXJefferson58 min
Mar 5, 1:27 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXBlount63 min
Mar 5, 1:37 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXChilton68 min
Mar 5, 1:55 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXMarshall65 min
Mar 5, 1:58 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXTuscaloosa47 min
Mar 5, 2:05 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXWalker55 min
Mar 5, 2:13 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXHale, Perry62 min
Mar 5, 2:33 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXJefferson57 min
Mar 5, 2:59 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBibb61 min
Mar 5, 3:18 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSt. Clair57 min
Mar 5, 3:37 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXEtowah, St. Clair68 min
Mar 5, 3:50 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXJefferson, Shelby115 min
Mar 5, 4:43 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTalladega62 min
Mar 5, 5:04 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXCalhoun, Clay, Talladega56 min
Mar 5, 5:15 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXCherokee60 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Alabama, 1989Every flash flood warning in 1989

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.