Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1989

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 7, NWS Birmingham, AL

March 5, 1989Winston County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 5, 1989, 10:47 AM CST for Winston County, Alabama. It was in force for 58 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 5, 1989, 10:47 AM CST (16:47 UTC)
Expired
Mar 5, 1989, 11:45 AM CST
In force
58 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Winston 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 5, 11:00 AM CSTThunderstorm Wind 0Winston, 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, 4.8 hours before the alert went out and 140 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 1989-03-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 771 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 12:00Z on 1989-03-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 266 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
771 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-19 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
581 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
43 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
266 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
304 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.0
Supercell composite
5.8

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

Special weather statement, Mar 5, 5:00 AM CST, 5 hours 47 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
459 AM CST SUN MAR 5 1989

STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING TOWARD NORTHWEST ALABAMA.

AT 458 AM CST A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED NORTH OF COLUMBUS
MISSISSIPPI...MOVING TOWARD HAMILTON IN MARION COUNTY. THIS STORM
WILL PRODUCE HEAVY RAIN...FREQUENT DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...AND WIND GUSTS
APPROACHING 40 MPH.

ABERDEEN MISSISSIPPI POLICE REPORTED VERY HEAVY RAIN...GUSTY WINDS...
AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING AS THE STORM MOVED THROUGH THE TOWN.

OTHER SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS IN EAST CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI
WERE MOVING TOWARD WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA AND SHOULD ENTER THE STATE
WITHIN THE NEXT HOUR OR TWO.

PERSONS IN NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA NEED TO BE ALERT AS THESE
STORMS MOVE THROUGH THE AREA.
.
REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR SECTIONS OF WEXT AND NORTH
ALABAMA UNTIL 10 AM CST.

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, 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, 2:54 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXLimestone, Madison, Morgan4 hr
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

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.