Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1989

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 21, NWS Birmingham, AL

March 29, 1989Walker County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 29, 1989, 1:20 PM CST for Walker County, Alabama. It was in force for 40 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
Mar 29, 1989, 1:20 PM CST (19:20 UTC)
Expired
Mar 29, 1989, 2:00 PM CST
In force
40 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
Mar 29, 1:40 PM CSTThunderstorm 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 12:00Z, 7.3 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 12:00Z on 1989-03-29Temperature 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°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Centreville/Bibb, AL at 12:00Z on 1989-03-29The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 88 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
914 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
88 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
125 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 291919
SVRBHM
ALC127-292000-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
120 PM CST WED MAR 29 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  200 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN NORTH ALABAMA
          ...WALKER
 
AT 119 PM CST...A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED FROM SOUTHEAST
FAYETTE COUNTY SOUTHWARD THROUGH CENTRAL TUSCALOOSA COUNTY...AND WAS
MOVING EAST NEAR 35 MILES AN HOUR. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE INTO
PARTS OF WALKER COUNTY DURING THE NEXT HALF HOUR.
 
TREES HAVE BEEN REPORTED BLOWN DOWN IN PARTS OF SOUTHERN FAYETTE
COUNTY WITH THESE THUNDERSTORMS DURING THE PAST HALF HOUR.
 
A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THE WARNED AREA.  REMEMBER
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES
WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING.  REMAIN CALM BUT BE ALERT TO
RAPIDLY CHyANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 29, 12:46 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTuscaloosa44 min
Mar 29, 1:11 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBibb, Hale49 min
Mar 29, 1:35 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson55 min
Mar 29, 2:33 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson27 min
Mar 29, 2:44 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXChilton, St. Clair, Shelby46 min
Mar 29, 3:40 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCalhoun65 min
Mar 29, 3:40 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXClay65 min
Mar 29, 4:01 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCherokee59 min
Mar 29, 4:29 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCleburne, Randolph61 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.