Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 37, NWS Birmingham, AL

June 12, 1989Winston County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Jun 12, 1989, 5:44 PM CDT for Winston County, Alabama. It was in force for 46 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jun 12, 1989, 5:44 PM CDT (22:44 UTC)
Expired
Jun 12, 1989, 6:30 PM CDT
In force
46 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Centreville/Bibb, AL (KCKL), launched 12:00Z, 10.7 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 1989-06-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 1989-06-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 77 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
0 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
77 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
52 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KBHM 122245
TORBHM
ALC133-122330-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
544 PM CDT MON JUN 12 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  630 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN NORTH ALABAMA
          ...WINSTON
 
AT 540 PM WEATHER SERVICE RADAR AT CENTREVILE INDICATED A POSSIBLE
TORNADO OVER SOUTHWEST WINSTON COUNTY MOVING EAST-NORTHEASTJ
AT 30 MPH.

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, Jun 12, 4:14 PM CDT, 1 hour 30 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
413 PM CDT MON JUN 12 1989

STRONG THUNDERSTORMS APPROCHING WEST-CENTRAL ALABAMA.

AT 410 PM WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF STRONG
THUNDERSTORMS OVER EASTERN MISSISSIPPI MOVING TOWARDS THE NORTHEAST
AT 25 MPH. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE INTO MARION AND LAMAR COUNTIES
BY 5 PM.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING STRONG GUSTY WINDS...
BRIEF HEAVY DOWNPOURS...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND SOME HAIL.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 11, 11:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLamar64 min
Jun 12, 4:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarion60 min
Jun 12, 5:14 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXLamar16 min
Jun 12, 5:30 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXMarion15 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.