Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1989

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 49, NWS Mobile, AL

April 4, 1989Mobile County, Alabama; George County, Mississippi

NWS Mobile, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 4, 1989, 7:04 PM CDT for Mobile County, Alabama; George County, Mississippi. It was in force for 56 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
Apr 4, 1989, 7:04 PM CDT (00:04 UTC)
Expired
Apr 4, 1989, 8:00 PM CDT
In force
56 min
Issued by
NWS Mobile, AL
Area
Whole counties

Counties Mobile County, AL, George County, MS

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
Apr 4, 7:35 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 0Mobile, 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, 0.1 hours before the alert went out and 136 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 1989-04-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2583 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 1989-04-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 113 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
2583 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-10 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
889 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
113 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
134 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
4.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMOB 050005
SVRMOB
ALC097-MSC039-050100-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
704 PM CDT TUE APR 4 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  800 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
 
IN SOUTHWEST ALABAMA
          ...NORTHERN MOBILE
IN SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI
          ...GEORGE
 
AT 705 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ALONG THE
MOBILE/WASHINGTON COUNTY LINE INTO GEORGE COUNTY MISSISSIPPI. THE
STORMS WERE MOVING TO THE EAST AT 40 MPH.
 
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

Local storm report, Apr 4, 6:00 PM CDT, 1 hour 4 minutes before
ATTN SELS
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
555 PM CDT TUE APR 4 1989

AT 550 PM DUANES CHEVRON LOCATED ABOUT TWO MILES SOUTH OF CAMP SHELBY IN
FORREST COUNTY MISSISSIPPI REPORTED DI,ME SIZE HAIL...ALSO HAD RECEIVED
NUMEROUS REPORTS OF HAIL UP TO THE SIZE OF GOLFBALLS COVERNING THE
GROUND AND CAUSING DRIVING PROBLEMS.
Local storm report, Apr 4, 6:02 PM CDT, 1 hour 2 minutes before
ATTN SELS
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
555 PM CDT TUE APR 4 1989

AT 550 PM DUANES CHEVRON LOCATED ABOUT TWO MILES SOUTH OF CAMP SHELBY IN
FORREST COUNTY MISSISSIPPI REPORTE0D DIME SIZE HAIL...ALSO HAD RECEIVED
NUMEROUS REPORTS OF HAIL UP TO THE SIZE OF GOLFBALLS COVERNING THE
GROUND AND CAUSING DRIVING PROBLEMS AT BROOKLYN IN THE SOUTH PART OF
THE COUNTY.
Local storm report, Apr 4, 6:03 PM CDT, 1 hour 1 minute before
ATTN SELS
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
555 PM CDT TUE APR 4 1989

AT 550 PM DUANES CHEVRON LOCATED ABOUT TWO MILES SOUTH OF CAMP SHELBY IN
FORREST COUNTY MISSISSIPPI REPORTED DIME 1SIZE HAIL...ALSO HAD RECEIVED
NUMEROUS REPORTS OF HAIL UP TO THE SIZE OF GOLFBALLS COVERNING THE
GROUND AND CAUSING DRIVING PROBLEMS AT BROOKLYN IN THE SOUTH PART OF
THE COUNTY.

TIME OF OCCURRENCE WAS 500 PM.
Local storm report, Apr 4, 6:14 PM CDT, 50 minutes before
ATTN SELS
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
615 PM CDT TUE APR 4 1989

THE SHERIFFS OFFICE IN GROVE HILL ALABAMA...CLARKE COUNTY...REPORTED
HAIL MOSTLY MARBLE SIZE...BUT SOME UP TO GOLF> BALLS AT 540 PM CDT.
Local storm report, Apr 4, 6:44 PM CDT, 20 minutes before
ATTN SELS
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
640 PM CDT TUE APR 4 1989

THE SHERIFFS OFFICE IN MILLRY ALABAMA...WASHINGTON COUNTY...REPORTED
A POSSIBLE TORNADO THAT PARTIALLY UNROOFED THE IGoA STORE.  ALSO...
LARGE HAIL THAT DAMAGED VEHICLES.  TIME OF OCCURRENCE 440 TO 500 PM.
Special weather statement, Apr 4, 6:47 PM CDT, 17 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENSACOLA FL
645 PM CDT TUE APR 4 1989

...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR ESCAMBIA AND SANTA ROSA COUNTIES OF
NORTHWEST FLORIDA UNTIL 10 PM CDT THIS TUESDAY EVENING...

AT 630PM CDT...A SOLID LINE OF STRONG...POTENTIALLY SEVERE...
THUNDERSTORMS STRETCHED ACROSS SOUTHERN ALABAMA AND SOUTHEAST
MISSISSIPPI.  THE LINE EXTENDED FROM TROY IN PIKE COUNTY OF ALABAMA
SOUTHWESTWARD TO CITRONELLE IN NORTHERN MOBILE COUNTY...THEN ACROSS
SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI. THE LINE WAS MOVING TO THE SOUTHEAST ABOUT
15 MILES AN HOUR.

OTHER THUNDERSTORMS HAD DEVELOPED AHEAD OF THE LINE IN THE WESTERN
END OF NORTHWEST FLORIDA. THESE WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MILES AN
HOUR.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 4, 8:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBMobile61 min
Apr 4, 9:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBBaldwin58 min
Apr 4, 8:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBHancock40 min
Apr 4, 9:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBJackson67 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Alabama, 1989Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Mississippi, 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.