Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1989

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 113, NWS Birmingham, AL

July 26, 1989Walker County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 26, 1989, 7:07 PM CDT for Walker County, Alabama. It was in force for 68 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 26, 1989, 7:07 PM CDT (00:07 UTC)
Expired
Jul 26, 1989, 8:15 PM CDT
In force
68 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Walker 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 26, 7:28 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 0Walker, 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 00:00Z, 0.1 hours before the alert went out and 101 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 00:00Z on 1989-07-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1634 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 00:00Z on 1989-07-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 57 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
1634 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-55 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1255 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
11 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
57 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
73 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 270008
SVRBHM
ALC127-270115-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
707 PM CDT WED JUL 26 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  815 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN NORTH ALABAMA
          ...WALKER
 
AT 705 PM CDT...RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER THE TOWN OF
SIPSEY IN WALKER COUNTY MOVING TO THE WEST AT 15 MILES AN HOUR.
 
 
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 O]R 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 26, 4:41 PM CDT, 2 hours 26 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
435 PM CDT WED JUL 26 1989

...VERY STRONG SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS IN CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ALABAMA

AT 435 RADAR INDICATED A VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM IN NORTHERN BLOUNT
COUNTY MOVING SOUTHWEST AROUND 15 MPH. ANOTHER VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM
WAS INDICATED IN SOUTHERN CHILTON COUNTY MOVING WEST AROUND 15 MPH. THE
THUNDERSTORMS WILL LIKELY PRODUCE STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND VERY HEAVY
RAINS ALONG WITH DEADLY LIGHTNING AND PROBABLY HAIL.

OTHER THUNDERSTORMS WERE SCATTERED IN NORTHERN AND CENTRAL ALABAMA.
THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE ALSO MOVING SOUTHWEST AROUND 15 MPH. ALL THE
THUNDERSTORMS WILL LIKELY PRODUCE HEAVY RAINS AND GUSTY WINDS ALONG WITH
DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.

MORE THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP IN OTHER LOCATIONS OF ALABAMA THIS
AFTERNOON AND EVENING. RESIDENTS SHOULD PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO WEATHER
CONDITIONS AND BE PREPARED TO SEEK SHELTER IF THREATENING WEATHER
OCCURS.
Special weather statement, Jul 26, 4:42 PM CDT, 2 hours 25 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
435 PM CDT WED JUL 26 1989

...VERY STRONG SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS IN CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ALABAMA

AT 435 RADAR INDICATED A VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM IN NORTHERN BLOUNT
COUNTY MOVING SOUTHWEST AROUND 15 MPH. ANOTHER VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM
WAS INDICATED IN SOUTHERN CHILTON COUNTY MOVING WEST AROUND 15 MPH. THE
THUNDERSTORMS WILL LIKELY PRODUCE STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND VERY HEAVY
RAINS ALONG WITH DEADLY LIGHTNING AND PROBABLY HAIL.

OTHER THUNDERSTORMS WERE SCATTERED IN NORTHERN AND CENTRAL ALABAMA.
THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE ALSO MOVING SOUTHWEST AROUND 15 MPH. ALL THE
THUNDERSTORMS WILL LIKELY PRODUCE HEAVY RAINS AND GUSTY WINDS ALONG WITH
DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.

MORE THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP IN OTHER LOCATIONS OF ALABAMA THIS
AFTERNOON AND EVENING. RESIDENTS SHOULD PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO WEATHER
CONDITIONS AND BE PREPARED TO SEEK SHELTER IF THREATENING WEATHER
OCCURS.
Local storm report, Jul 26, 5:39 PM CDT, 1 hour 28 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
538 PM CDT WED JULY 26 1989

...AT 530PM CDT...MARBLE SIZE HAIL WAS REPORTED SOUTH OF THE CITY
   OF TALLADEGA IN TALLADEGA COUNTY. REPORT BY THE STApTE POLICE.
...AT 532PM CDT...PEA SIZE HAIL WAS REPORTED NORTH OF THE CITY OF
   CHILDERSBURG IN TALLADEGA COUNTY. REPORT BY THE CHILDERSBURG
   POLICE.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 501 PM TO 545 PM FOR
TALLADEGA COUNTY.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 26, 7:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBibb59 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Alabama, 1989Every severe thunderstorm 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.