Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1989

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 23, NWS Mobile, AL

March 29, 1989Dallas County, Alabama

NWS Mobile, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 29, 1989, 2:29 PM CST for Dallas County, Alabama. It was in force for 46 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 29, 1989, 2:29 PM CST (20:29 UTC)
Expired
Mar 29, 1989, 3:15 PM CST
In force
46 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 29, 2:40 PM CSTThunderstorm Wind 0Dallas, 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 12:00Z, 8.5 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 12:00Z on 1989-03-29Temperature 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 1989-03-29The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 88 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
914 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
88 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
125 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 KMGM 292032
SVRMGM
ALC047-292115-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MONTGOMERY AL
229 PM CST WED MAR 29 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MONTGOMERY HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  315 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTH ALABAMA
          ...DALLAS
 
RADAR INDICATES A SHORT LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS FROM NEAR
PLANTERSVILLE TO 10 MILES SOUTHWEST OF SELMA MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH.
 
 
A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THE WARNED AREA.  REMEMBER
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES
WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING.  REMAIN CALM BUT BE ALERT TO
RAPIDLY CHANGING WdEATHER CONDITIONS.

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 29, 10:54 AM CST, 3 hours 35 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
1050 AM CST WED MAR 29 1989

...A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST
MISSISSIPPI UNTIL 200 PM CST...
...LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI...

AT 1045 AM MOBILE RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WITH
HEAVY RAINFALL FROM 20 MILES WEST OF MERIDIAN MISSISSIPPI SOUTHWESTWARD
THROUGH MCCOMB TO JUST EAST OF BATON ROUGE LOUISIANA. THE LINE WAS
MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH. THIS LINE OF STORMS HAS ALREADY PRODUCED WIND
DAMAGE IN WESTERN MISSISSIPPI THIS MORNING.

ELSEWHERE SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WERE OVER THE REMAINDER OF SOUTHEAST
MISSISSIPPI.

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR TORNADOES
AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA.
Special weather statement, Mar 29, 11:51 AM CST, 2 hours 38 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENSACOLA FL
1135 AM CST WED MAR 29 1989

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING EAST THROUGH MISSISSIPPI...

AT 1130 AM..STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE SCATTERED OVER SOUTHEAST
MISSISSIPPI AND SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA.
THE MAIN CONCENTRATION OF STRONGER THUNDERSTORNS WAS BETWEEN
NEW ORLEANS AND MERIDIAN.

THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE SPREADING EAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR.

THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO MOVE INTO THE WEST PART OF THE
FLORIDA PANHANDLE LATER THIS AFTERNOON.
THESE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE PRODUCED HEAVY RAINS AND DAMAGING WINDS
AS THEY MOVED THROUGH MISSISSIPPI.
Special weather statement, Mar 29, 12:09 PM CST, 2 hours 20 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
1205 PM CST WED MAR 29 1989

...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR ALL OF SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI AND
SOUTHWEST ALABAMA UNTIL 600 PM CST...

AT 1200 PM MOBILE RADAR INDICATED A BAND OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS FROM
BAY SAINT LOUIS MISSISSIPPI NORTHWARD TO HATTIESBURG. ANOTHER BAND OF
THUNDERSTORMS STRETCHED FROM GULFPORT TO EAST OF WIGGINS MISSISSIPPI.
BOTH AREAS WERE MOVING EAST NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED JUST SOUTH OF HATTIESBURG. THIS
STORM WILL MOVE ACROSS THE EASTERN PORTIONS OF THE HATTIESBURG AREA DURING
THE NEXT HOUR. NO SEVERE WEATHER HAS BEEN REPORTED TO THIS OFFICE SO FAR.
MOST OF THE THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY CONTAINED HEAVY RAINFALL AND GUSTY WINDS.

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR TORNADOES
AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA.
Special weather statement, Mar 29, 1:33 PM CST, 56 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
130 PM CST WED MAR 29 1989

...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR ALL OF SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI AND
SOUTHWEST ALABAMA UNTIL 600 PM CST...

AT 125 PM MOBILE RADAR INDICATED A BAND OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS FROM
GULFPORT MISSISSIPPI NORTHWARD TO LEAKESVILLE. THIS BAND WAS MOVING
EAST AT 25 MPH AND WILL MOVE INTO THE WESTERN PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST
ALABAMA DURING THE NEXT HOUR.

THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED NEAR MCCLAIN MISSISSIPPI. THIS
STORM WILL MOVE INTO LEAKESVILLE WITHIN THE NEXT 30 MINUTES. THIS STORM WILL
LIKELY PRODUCE INTENSE RAINFALL...STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND SOME SMALL HAIL.
SO FAR NO REPORTS OF SEVERE WEATHER IN SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI HAVE BEEN
RECEIVED.

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR TORNADOES
AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA.

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.