Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1989
Tornado Warning 3, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Feb 20, 1989, 10:14 PM CST for Walker County, Winston County, Alabama. It was in force for 61 min. 2 reports 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
- Feb 20, 1989, 10:14 PM CST (04:14 UTC)
- Expired
- Feb 20, 1989, 11:15 PM CST
- In force
- 61 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Walker County, AL, 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 20, 11:00 PM CST | Tornado F2 | Winston, AL | |
| Feb 20, 11:00 PM CST | Thunderstorm Wind 0 | 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 00:00Z, 4.2 hours before the alert went out and 120 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
- 164 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -59 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 805 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 44 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 288 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 415 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.8
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KBHM 210415
TORBHM
ALC127-133-210515-
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
1014 PM CST MON FEB 20 1989
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1115 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
IN NORTH ALABAMA
...WALKER...WINSTON
AT 1010 PM CST A TORNADO WAS INDICATED NEAR WINFIELD AND WAS MOVING
NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH. THIS WOULD CARRY THE POSSIBLE TORNADO INTO
NORTHERN WALKER COUNTY AND INTO WINSTON COUNTY.
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 INTERIOJR 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, Feb 20, 8:58 PM CST, 1 hour 16 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
857 PM CST MON FEB 20 1989
...THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO WEST AND NORTHWEST ALABAMA...
AT 845 PM THIS EVENING RADAR INDICATED A BAND OF SHOWERS AND THUNDER
STORMS STRETCHING FROM MIDDLE TENNESSEE ACROSS THE NORTHWEST CORNER
OF ALABAMA AND INTO NORTH CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI.
THE STRONGEST OF THESE STORMS WILL BE ENTERING NORTHERN LAMAR AND
MARION COUNTIES AROUND 915 PM. THIS STORM HAS A HISTORY OF TORNADIC
ACITIVITY AND LARGE HAIL. THERE IS A GOOD POSSIBILITY THAT WARNINGS
WILL HAVE TO BE ISSUED AS THIS STORM ENTERS ALABAMA.
PERSONS SHOULD REMAIN INFORMED ON THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION
AND BE PREPARED TO TAKE SHELTER IMMEDIATELY.
OTHER STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED OVER MISSISSIPPI AND WILL
CONTINUE MOVING INTO ALABAMA DURING THE NIGHT.The office that day
Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 20, 9:17 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Lamar, Marion | 58 min |
| Feb 20, 9:48 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Fayette | 57 min |
| Feb 20, 10:16 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Lawrence | 44 min |
| Feb 20, 10:30 PM CST | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Lauderdale | 3 hr |
| Feb 20, 10:36 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Pickens | 69 min |
| Feb 20, 11:03 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Pickens | 57 min |
| Feb 20, 11:20 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Madison | 55 min |
| Feb 20, 11:23 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Greene, Tuscaloosa | 67 min |
| Feb 20, 11:39 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Cullman | 66 min |
| Feb 20, 11:58 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Jefferson | 62 min |
| Feb 21, 1:00 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Limestone, Madison | 3 hr |
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.