Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1989

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 41, NWS Birmingham, AL

April 4, 1989Fayette County, Pickens County, Tuscaloosa County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 4, 1989, 7:54 AM CDT for Fayette County, Pickens County, Tuscaloosa County, Alabama. It was in force for 66 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Apr 4, 1989, 7:54 AM CDT (12:54 UTC)
Expired
Apr 4, 1989, 9:00 AM CDT
In force
66 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

Counties Fayette County, AL, Pickens County, AL, Tuscaloosa 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, 0.9 hours before the alert went out and 80 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 1989-04-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1111 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 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 1989-04-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 174 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
1111 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-8 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
704 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
174 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
190 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.9
Supercell composite
6.0

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 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

Local storm report, Apr 4, 5:08 AM CDT, 2 hours 46 minutes before
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Local storm report, Apr 4, 5:42 AM CDT, 2 hours 12 minutes before
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Local storm report, Apr 4, 6:48 AM CDT, 1 hour 6 minutes before
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Special weather statement, Apr 4, 7:01 AM CDT, 53 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MONTGOMERY AL
700 AM CST TUE APR 04 1989

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR PARTS OF SOUTH CENTRAL ALABAMA
REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 11AM CDT.

WEATHER RADAR AT MONTGOMERY SHOWED A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS
FROM NEAR ANNISTON TO SOUTHERN SHELBY COUNTY AND ON WESTWARD TO
NEAR CENTREVILLE.  THE LINE WAS MOVING SLOWLY TOWARD THE SOUTHEAST.
STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS WERE  NEAR ANNISTON AND FROM CEkNTREVILLE
TO SOUTHEAST SHELBY COUNTY.

THESE STORMS WILL BE ENTERING COOSA AND CHILTON COUNTIES WITHIN
THE NEXT HOUR.

THE POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE WEATHER REMAINS HIGH. PERSONS IN THE WATCH
AREA SHOULD REMAIN ON THE ALERT.
PETTIT
Local storm report, Apr 4, 7:19 AM CDT, 35 minutes before
STORM REPORTS
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
715 AM CDT TUE APR 4 1989

...TREES WERE UPROOTED ON HIGHWAY 13 I FOUR MILES NORTH OF
   ELDRIDGE IN EXTREME NORTHWEST WALKER COUNTY. THIS NORTHWEST
   ALABAMA DAMAGE PROBABLY OCCURRED ABOUT 330 AM CDT.

...LATER INFORMATION FROM THE MARION COUNTY EMA OFFICE...
   INDICATES THAT DAMAGE OCCURED ALL THE WAY ACROSS MARION
   COUNTY..FROM SOUTHWEST TO NORTHEAST EARLY THIS MORNING.
   MOST OF THE DAMAGE WAS IN A ONE-HALF MILE WIDE SWATH.
   EARLY REPORTS INDICATE THAT AT LEAST 10 HOMES WERE DAMAGED
   BY FALLING TREES...CRUSHING THE ROOFS. AUTOMOBILES WERE
   ALSO DAMAGED...INCLUDING A STATE TROOPER CRUISER.

   ON THE WEST SIDE OF HALEYVILLE...WHICH IS ACTUALLY IN THE
   EDGE OF MARION COUNTY...TWO MOBILE HOMES WERE DESTROYED
   AT THE GREEN ACRES MOBILE HOME PARK. ANOTHER MOBILE HOME
   WAS DAMAGED ON WEST 14TH STREET IN HALEYVILLE. STILL ANOTHER
   MOBILE HOME WAS OVERTURNED AND CARRIED 20-30 FEET ON COUNTY
   ROAD 253 IN MARION COUNTY.

   MOST OF THE MARION COUNTY DAMAGE WAS AROUND 315 TO 330 AM.
Special weather statement, Apr 4, 7:37 AM CDT, 17 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
735 AM CDT TUE APR 4 1989

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH CONTINUES FOR MUCH OF NORTH
   AND CENTRAL ALABAMA UNTIL 11 AM CDT...

THUNDERSTORMS WERE GROWING MORE INTENSE OVER EAST CENTRAL
ALABAMA. AT 735 AM...THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS WERE
IN EASTERN CLAY AND RANDOLPH COUNTY...EXTENDING FROM EAST
OF ASHLAND TO NEAR WEDOWEE. THEY WERE MOVING EAST RAPIDLY.
THEY MAY CONTAIN HAIL AND HIGH WINDS.

OTHER INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS IN CENTRAL ALABAMA OVER BIBB
AND NORTHERN CHILTON COUNTIES.

THUNDERSTORMS WERE ALSO BECOMING SEVERE AGAIN OVER PARTS
OF EAST MISSISSIPPI. SOME OF THESE WILL BE MOVING INTO
WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA LATER...POSSIBLY INTO WEST ALABAMA'S
PICKENS COUNTY.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 4, 3:01 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLamar, Marion59 min
Apr 4, 4:14 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLimestone30 min
Apr 4, 4:14 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMadison, Morgan50 min
Apr 4, 4:41 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson, Tuscaloosa, Walker64 min
Apr 4, 4:41 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBlount64 min
Apr 4, 5:02 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPickens43 min
Apr 4, 5:04 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarshall46 min
Apr 4, 10:00 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCullman60 min
Apr 4, 10:07 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXBlount, Cullman68 min
Apr 4, 10:11 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLamar, Pickens64 min
Apr 4, 10:21 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarshall69 min
Apr 4, 10:21 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMorgan59 min
Apr 4, 10:30 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXEtowah60 min
Apr 4, 10:36 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFayette54 min
Apr 4, 10:59 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXMarshall46 min
Apr 4, 11:21 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPickens69 min
Apr 4, 11:35 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXDeKalb55 min
Apr 4, 11:38 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTuscaloosa67 min
Apr 4, 11:56 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson64 min
Apr 4, 12:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBlount69 min
Apr 4, 12:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBibb, Hale61 min
Apr 4, 12:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSt. Clair, Shelby64 min
Apr 4, 12:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXEtowah65 min
Apr 4, 12:49 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXShelby41 min
Apr 4, 1:01 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXCalhoun, Cherokee, Etowah59 min
Apr 4, 1:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXHale, Marengo60 min
Apr 4, 1:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXClay, Cleburne60 min
Apr 4, 1:32 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXHale, Marengo43 min
Apr 4, 1:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXRandolph60 min
Apr 4, 1:59 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXChilton31 min
Apr 4, 2:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarengo63 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.