Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1989

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 10, NWS Mobile, AL

March 20, 1989Dallas County, Alabama

NWS Mobile, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 20, 1989, 6:36 PM CST for Dallas County, Alabama. It was in force for 69 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 20, 1989, 6:36 PM CST (00:36 UTC)
Expired
Mar 20, 1989, 7:45 PM CST
In force
69 min
Issued by
NWS Mobile, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Dallas 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 20, 6:45 PM CSTHail 1.75Dallas, 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, 0.6 hours before the alert went out and 64 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 00:00Z on 1989-03-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 298 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 00:00Z on 1989-03-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 181 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
298 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-17 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1556 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
49 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
181 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
229 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
1.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMGM 210128
SVRMGM
ALC047-210145-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MONTGOMERY AL
636 PM CST MON MAR 20 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MONTGOMERY HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  745 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTH ALABAMA
          ...DALLAS
 
AT 635 PM RADAR SHOWED A SHORT LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER
WESTERN DALLAS COUNTY MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH. THERE WERE STRONG
INDICATIONS OF LARGE HAIL IN SOME OF THE STORMS. ONE OF THE MOST
INTENSE STORMS WILL BE MOVING OVER MARION JUNCTION BETWEEN 645 AND 7
PM.
 
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER FROM THE WEATHER IN A
STRONG BUILDING.  DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN...
AND DEADLY LIGHTNING ARE ALL POSSIBLE IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.
STAY INSIDE AWAY FROM WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.

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 20, 4:35 PM CST, 2 hours 1 minute before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
435 PM CST MON MAR 20 1989

...THUNDERSTORMS MOVING THROUGH THE HATTIESBURG AREA...

AT 425 PM CST...MOBILE RADAR INDICATED A BAND OF RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS
MOVING SOUTHEAST THROUGH SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI. THE BAND WAS LOCATED
FROM NEAR MERIDIAN TO HATTIESBURG TO POPLARVILLE. THE STRONGEST THUNDER-
STORMS WERE BETWEEN MERIDIAN AND HATTIESBURG.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING STRONG GUSTY WINDS...
HEAVY RAIN...AND POSSIBLY HAIL AS THEY MOVE NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH.

CONDITIONS WILL REMAIN FAVORABLE FOR THUNDERSTORMS THE REST OF THIS
AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 41 REMAINS
IN EFFECT FOR SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI AND SOUTHWEST ALABAMA UNTIL 9 PM.
Local storm report, Mar 20, 6:19 PM CST, 17 minutes before
ATTN SELS
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
615 PM CST MON MAR 21 1989

TIME      COUNTY/STATE        EVENT
540 PM    PERRY/MS            1 INCH HAIL REPORTED BY POLICE
                              BETWEEN NEW AUGUSTA AND RICHTON
530 PM    FORREST/MS          GROCERY CONTACT REPORTED 3/4 INCH
                              HAIL NORTH OF CAMP SHELBY ON HIGHWAY
                              98.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 20, 7:34 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBCoosa56 min
Mar 20, 7:34 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBAutauga56 min
Mar 20, 8:16 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBMontgomery59 min
Mar 20, 9:18 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBCovington57 min
Mar 21, 4:20 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBMobile40 min
Mar 21, 5:11 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBElmore64 min
Mar 21, 6:35 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBBarbour, Pike55 min
Mar 21, 7:37 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBBarbour68 min
Mar 21, 8:04 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBHenry, Houston56 min
Mar 21, 8:24 AM CSTTornado WarningMOBDale42 min
Mar 21, 9:15 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBHouston50 min
Mar 21, 10:48 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBMobile42 min
Mar 21, 1:45 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBMobile45 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.