Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1989
Tornado Warning 16, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Mar 5, 1989, 2:05 PM CST for Walker County, Alabama. It was in force for 55 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, 2:05 PM CST (20:05 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 5, 1989, 3:00 PM CST
- In force
- 55 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 5, 2:30 PM CST | Hail 1 | Walker, 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, 8.1 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.
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KBHM 052006
TORBHM
ALC127-052100-
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
205 PM CST SUN MAR 5 1989
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 300 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
IN NORTH ALABAMA
...WALKER
AT 200 PM CST A POWERFUL THUNDERSTORM CONTAINING A POSSIBLE TORNADO
WAS LOCATED IN NORTHERN TUSCALOOSA COUNTY AND WILL MOVE INTO SOUTHERN
WALKER COUNTY BEFORE 215 PM. ON THE STORM'S PRESENT COURSE...THIS
WOULD TAKE IT SOMEWHERE BETWEEN JASPER AND SUMITON.
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION. ACT QUICKLY. IF YOU ARE
IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF
AVAILABLE. OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR POSSIBLE. AVOID WINDOWS. ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES
FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this tornado 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, 2 hours 50 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, 2 hours 27 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, 1 hour 36 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
The office that day
Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 5, 12:35 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Colbert, Franklin | 55 min |
| Mar 5, 12:52 AM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Colbert, Franklin | 68 min |
| Mar 5, 6:02 AM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Franklin, Lawrence | 58 min |
| Mar 5, 6:38 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lamar, Marion | 52 min |
| Mar 5, 9:14 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lamar | 61 min |
| Mar 5, 9:59 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Marion | 61 min |
| Mar 5, 10:47 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Winston | 58 min |
| Mar 5, 12:47 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Jefferson | 58 min |
| Mar 5, 1:27 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Blount | 63 min |
| Mar 5, 1:37 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Chilton | 68 min |
| Mar 5, 1:55 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Marshall | 65 min |
| Mar 5, 1:58 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Tuscaloosa | 47 min |
| Mar 5, 2:13 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Hale, Perry | 62 min |
| Mar 5, 2:33 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Jefferson | 57 min |
| Mar 5, 2:54 PM CST | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Limestone, Madison, Morgan | 4 hr |
| Mar 5, 2:59 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Bibb | 61 min |
| Mar 5, 3:18 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | St. Clair | 57 min |
| Mar 5, 3:37 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Etowah, St. Clair | 68 min |
| Mar 5, 3:50 PM CST | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Jefferson, Shelby | 115 min |
| Mar 5, 4:43 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Talladega | 62 min |
| Mar 5, 5:04 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Calhoun, Clay, Talladega | 56 min |
| Mar 5, 5:15 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Cherokee | 60 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Alabama, 1989Every tornado warning in 1989Tornadoes 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.