Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1989
Tornado Warning 25, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Mar 30, 1989, 10:08 PM CST for Franklin County, Alabama. It was in force for 54 min.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- Mar 30, 1989, 10:08 PM CST (04:08 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 30, 1989, 11:02 PM CST
- In force
- 54 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Franklin 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 00:00Z, 4.1 hours before the alert went out and 182 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
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1317 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 40 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 20 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 91 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KHSV 310409
TORHSV
ALC059-310515-
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
1008 PM CST THU MAR 30 1989
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HUNTSVILLE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1115 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
IN NORTH ALABAMA
...FRANKLIN
RADAR AT 1005 PM INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO MOVING TOWARDS FRANKLIN
COUNTY. THE TORNADO WAS MOVING EAST AT 45 MPH AND SHOULD MOVE INTO
FRANKLIN COUNTY NEAR RED BAY BY AROUND 1030.
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT. GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY. AVOID WINDOWS.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 30, 9:49 PM CST, 19 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 948 PM CST THU MAR 30 1989 ...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR SECTIONS OF CENTRAL AND NORTH ALABAMA UNTIL 2 AM CST... AT 948 PM CST A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS...SOME SEVERE PRODUCING LARGE HAIL...EXTENDED FROM THE NORTHWEST CORNER OF ALABAMA SOUTHWESTWARD TO TUPELO AND GREENWOOD MISSISSIPPI. A STRONG THUNDERSTORM NEAR TUPELO WILL AFFECT SECTIONS OF MARION COUNTY BY 1030 PM CST. THE STORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 45 MILES AN HOUR. PERSONS IN NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA NEED TO MONITOR THEIR LOCAL RADIO...TV OR NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR THE NEXT FEW HOURS AS THE STORMS MOVE THROUGH THE AREA. THE STORMS WILL LIKELY REACH THE TUSCALOOSA AND BIRMINGHAM AREAS A LITTLE AFTER 12 MIDNIGHT.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 30, 10:02 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Marion | 58 min |
| Mar 30, 10:13 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Marion | 47 min |
| Mar 30, 10:34 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Colbert | 56 min |
| Mar 30, 11:02 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lawrence | 58 min |
| Mar 30, 11:24 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lawrence, Limestone, Morgan | 66 min |
| Mar 30, 11:37 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Madison | 68 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.