Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1989

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 15, NWS Mobile, AL

March 21, 1989Mobile County, Alabama

NWS Mobile, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 21, 1989, 4:20 AM CST for Mobile County, Alabama. It was in force for 40 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 21, 1989, 4:20 AM CST (10:20 UTC)
Expired
Mar 21, 1989, 5:00 AM CST
In force
40 min
Issued by
NWS Mobile, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Mobile 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 21, 4:45 AM CSTHail 0.75Mobile, 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

Slidell Radar S, LA (KSIL), launched 00:00Z, 10.3 hours before the alert went out and 152 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, Slidell Radar S, LA at 00:00Z on 1989-03-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1088 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, Slidell Radar S, LA at 00:00Z on 1989-03-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 84 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
1088 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-8 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1047 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
84 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
140 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.4
Supercell composite
3.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMOB 211024 COR
SVRMOB
ALC097-210500-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING...CORRECTION FOR EXPIRATION TIME...
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
420 AM CST TUE MAR 21 1989

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 500 AM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...

IN SOUTHWEST ALABAMA
          ...CENTRAL MOBILE

AT 415 AM CST WEATHER SERVICE RADARS INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
CENTERED 5 MILES WEST NORTHWEST OF THE MOBILE AIRPORT MOVING TOWARD
THE EAST AT 30 MPH.  THIS THUNDERSTORM WILL AFFECT THE NORTHERN
PORTION OF THE CITY OF MOBILE AS WELL AS THE CITIES OF PRICHARD AND
SARALAND.



SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS.  HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO
DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.

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 21, 3:57 AM CST, 23 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
400 AM CST TUE MAR 21 1989

...THUNDERSTORMS INCREASING OVER SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI AND SOUTHWEST
ALABAMA...

THE MOBILE RADAR AT 355 AM SHOWED THAT SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WERE
INCREASING ACROSS SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI AND SOUTHWEST ALABAMA.  A STRONG
THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED 15 MILES WEST OF THE MOBILE AIRPORT.  OTHER
STORMS WERE MOVING ACROSS WASHINGTON...CLARKE AND CONECUH COUNTIES OF
ALABAMA.  THE THUNDERSTORMS ARE MOVING TOWARD THE EAST AT 30 MPH.

FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS RESIDENTS OF SOUTHWEST ALABAMA AND SOUTHEAST
MISSISSIPPI CAN EXPECT STRONG GUSTY WINDS...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...HEAVY
RAINFALL AND POSSIBLY SOME HAIbL AS THESE THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE MOVING
TOWARD THE EAST.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 20, 6:36 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBDallas69 min
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, 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.