Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1989
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 51, NWS Mobile, AL
NWS Mobile, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 4, 1989, 8:44 PM CDT for Mobile County, Alabama. It was in force for 61 min. 2 reports 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, 8:44 PM CDT (01:44 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 4, 1989, 9:45 PM CDT
- In force
- 61 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 4, 8:50 PM CDT | Hail 0.75 | Mobile, AL | |
| Apr 4, 9:29 PM CDT | Tornado F0 | Mobile, 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, 1.7 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.
- 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
The text
The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.
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, 6:44 PM CDT, 2 hours 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, 1 hour 57 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.
Local storm report, Apr 4, 7:29 PM CDT, 1 hour 15 minutes before
ATTN SELS STORM REPORT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL 730 PM CDT TUE APR 4 1989 700 PM CDT...GREENE COUNTY MISSISSIPPI SHERIFFS OFFICE REPORTED DIME TO QUARTER SIZE HAIL. 725 PM CDT...JACKSON PD IN CLARKE COUNTY ALABAMA REPORTED DIME SIZE HAIL OCCURRED AROUND 645 PM.
Special weather statement, Apr 4, 7:53 PM CDT, 51 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENSACOLA FL 750 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... A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS IS BEGINNING TO ENTER THE NORTHWEST CORNER OF THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE. THIS LINE OF STORMS WILL BRING PERIODS OF VERY HEAVY RAINS...STRONG GUSTY WINDS...FREQUENT LIGHTNING ...SMALL HAIL AND THE POSSIBILITY OF A TORNADO. THE LINE WAS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 15 MILES AN HOUR WHILE THE INDIVIDUAL THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 TO 40 MILES AN HOUR. THESE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE HAD A HISTORY OF BEING SEVERE WITH REPORTS OF HAIL AND TORNADOES IN ALABAMA AND MISSISSIPPI. RESIDENTS OF NORTHWEST FLORIDA SHOULD BE PREPARED TO TAKE IMMEDIATE SHELTER IF WARNINGS ARE ISSUED AND STAY INFORMED OF THE DANGEROUS WEATHER SITUATION.
Local storm report, Apr 4, 8:33 PM CDT, 11 minutes before
ATTN SELS STORM REPORT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL 830 PM CDT TUE APR 4 1989 AT 758 PM CDT THE PD IN CITRONELLE IN MOBILE COUNTY REPORTED TREES WERE BLOWN DOWN BETWEEN CITRONELLE AND THE WASHINGT$ON COUNTY LINE. TIME OF OCCURRENCE WAS 735 PM.
Special weather statement, Apr 4, 8:40 PM CDT, 4 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENSACOLA FL 840 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... A 830PM CDT...NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS WERE IN A LINE ACROSS SOUTHERN ALABAMA AND SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI. THE LINE STRETCHED FROM THE DOZIER AND ANDALUSIA AREA OF ALABAMA TO WIGGINS AND MC HENRY MISSISSIPPI. THE LINE WAS JUST BEGINNING TO MOVE INTO NORTH ESCAMBIA COUNTY OF FLORIDA...WHERE SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS HAD ALREADY DEVELOPED. THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS WERE INDICATED IN NEIGHBORING ESCAMBIA COUNTY OF ALABAMA. THE THUNDERSTORM LINE WAS MOVING SO)UTHEAST NEAR 15 MILES AN HOUR.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Mobile, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 4, 7:04 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Mobile | 56 min |
| Apr 4, 9:47 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Baldwin | 58 min |
| Apr 4, 8:20 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Hancock | 40 min |
| Apr 4, 9:53 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Jackson | 67 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.