Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1989

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 71, NWS Mobile, AL

June 7, 1989Houston County, Alabama

NWS Mobile, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 7, 1989, 8:09 PM CDT for Houston County, Alabama. It was in force for 66 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
Jun 7, 1989, 8:09 PM CDT (01:09 UTC)
Expired
Jun 7, 1989, 9:15 PM CDT
In force
66 min
Issued by
NWS Mobile, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Houston 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
Jun 7, 8:20 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 0Houston, 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

Apalachicola Mun, FL (KAQQ), launched 00:00Z, 1.2 hours before the alert went out and 161 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, Apalachicola Mun, FL at 00:00Z on 1989-06-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 420 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, Apalachicola Mun, FL at 00:00Z on 1989-06-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 100 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
420 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-116 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1208 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
38 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
100 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
126 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
3.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMGM 080110
SVRMGM
ALC069-080215-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MONTGOMERY AL
809 PM CDT WED JUN 7 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MONTGOMERY HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  915 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTH ALABAMA
          ...HOUSTON
 
A SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ABOUT 5 MILES SOUTH OF DOTHAN ALABAMA WAS
DETECTED BY WEATHER RADAR AT MONTGOMERY. ANOTHER SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
WAS OBSERVED ON THE ALABAMA/FLORIDA STATE LINE ALSO DUE SOUTH OF
DOTHAN.
 
THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING EASTNORTHEAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR.
 
WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A
STRONG BUILDING.  DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS.  DON'T USE TELEPHONES
OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL THE STORM
HAS PASSED.  MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE INTO LOW WATER CROSSINGS.

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, Jun 7, 3:39 PM CDT, 4 hours 30 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
340 PM CDT WED JUN 7 1989

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING CONTINUES IN EFFECT FOR THE CENTRAL
PORTION OF BALDWIN COUNTY ALABAMA UNTIL 400 PM...
...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST MISSSISSIPPI
UNTIL 900 PM...

THE WATCH INCLUDES HANCOCK...PEARL-RIVER...HARRISON AND STONE COUNTIES
OF MISSISSIPPI AS WELL AS THE ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS OF HANCOCK AND
HARRISON.

AT 335 PM THE MOBILE RADAR INDICATED THUNDERSTORMS IN A RANDOM PATTERN
COVERING MUCH OF SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI AND SOUTH ALABAMA.  THE STORMS
WERE GENERALLY MOVING TO THE EAST AT 10 TO 15 MPH.  THE STRONGEST
THUNDERSTORM REMAINS OVER THE WEST-CENTRAL PORTION OF BALDWIN COUNTY
ALABAMA WHERE DIME SIZE HAIL AND STRONG WINDS HAVE ALREADY BEEN REPORTED.

RESIDENTS OF ALL OF SOUTHWEST ALABAMA AND SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI...
BUT ESPECIALLY THOSE MISSISSIPPI COUNTIES IN THE WATCH AREA...
SHOULD BE ON  THE ALERT FOR STRONG THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON.
Special weather statement, Jun 7, 3:45 PM CDT, 4 hours 24 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENSACOLA FL
335 PM CDT WED JUN 7 1989

...THUNDERSTORMS INCREASING OVER THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE...

AT 330 PM CDT...THUNDERSTORMS...SOME WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN AND GUSTY
WINDS...WERE OVER THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE...SOUTHWEST ALABAMA...SOUTHEAST
MISSISSIPPI...AND THE ADJOINING GULF WATERS.
THE TUNDERSTORMS WITH THE HEAVIER RAINS WERE OVER NORTH BALDWIN COUNTY
ALABAMA AND WERE MOVING INTO THE NORTHWEST CORNER OF THE FLORIDA PAN-
HANDLE...BETWEEN CRESTVIEW AND BONIFAY...FROM AROUND APALACHICOLA TO
NEAR PANAMA CITY...AND OVER THE COASTAL WATERS OF BAY AND GULF COUNTY.
THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR.

THE STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS WILL PRODUCE PERIODS OF VERY HEAVY RAINS AND
SOME FLOODING OF STREETS AND POOR DRAINAGE AREAS...GUSTY WINDS AROUND
40 MILES AN HOUR...FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND POSSIBLE SMALL HAIL...AND FOR
MARINE INTEREST THE ADDITIONAL ROU)GH SEAS.
PERSONS SHOULD TAKE ANY NECESSARY PRECAUTIONS FOR THESE CONDITIONS.
Local storm report, Jun 7, 5:28 PM CDT, 2 hours 41 minutes before
ATTN SELS
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
530 PM CDT WED JUN 7 1989

TIME      CO/STATE         EVENT
330PM     BALDWIN/AL       WIND DAMAGE 1 MILE WEST OF CROSSROADS.
                           SEVERAL TREES REPORTED DOWN IN THE AREA.
                           METAL CARPORT BLOWN DOWN. A SVR TSTM WRNG
                           WAS IN EFFECT AT THE TIME.
Special weather statement, Jun 7, 6:00 PM CDT, 2 hours 9 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
600 PM CDT WED JUN 7 1989

...THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI
   HAS BEEN CANCELLED...

DURING THE PAST HOUR THUNDERSTORM INTENSITIES HAVE DIMINISHED AND
THEREFORE THE WATCH HAS BENN CANCELLED. AT 555 PM RADAR SHOWED A
LARGE AREA OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI AND
SOUTHWEST ALABAMA. THE ACTIVITY WAS MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH.

SOME OF THESE STORMS ARE STILL CAPABLE OF PRODUCING DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...
HEAVY RAINFALL...GUSTY WINDS AND SMALL HAIL. THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY IS
EXPECTED TO CONTINUE ACROSS THE GULF COAST THROUGH MUCH OF THE NIGHT.
Special weather statement, Jun 7, 7:31 PM CDT, 38 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENSACOLA FL
730 PM CDT WED JUN 7 1989

...THUNDERSTORMS INCREASING OVER THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE...

AT 730 PM CDT...THUNDERSTORMS...SOME WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN...FREQUENT
LIGHTNING...STRONG WINDS AND POSSIBLE HAIL WERE DEVELOPING OVER
ESCAMBIA AND SANTA ROSA COUNTIES. THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING
NORTHEAST AT 25 TO 30 MILES AN HOUR AND WILL MOVE ACROSS THE PANHANDLE
FROM WEST TO EAST.

OTHER THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN WERE OVER THE PANAMA CITY AREA AND
OUT IN THE GULF 10 TO 100 MILES SOUTH OF THE NORTHWEST FLORIDA COAST.

PEOPLE IN THESE AREAS SHOULD LISTEN AND WATCH FOR FURTHER THUNDERSTORM
INFORMATION AND BE PREPARzED TO TAKE SHELTER IF NECESSARY.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 8, 9:46 AM CDTTornado WarningMOBBaldwin29 min
Jun 8, 10:17 AM CDTTornado WarningMOBBaldwin28 min
Jun 8, 10:41 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBMobile49 min
Jun 8, 11:09 AM CDTTornado WarningMOBBaldwin36 min
Jun 8, 1:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBMobile49 min
Jun 8, 1:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBBaldwin47 min
Jun 8, 2:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBEscambia44 min
Jun 8, 2:30 PM CDTTornado WarningMOBBaldwin45 min
Jun 8, 3:41 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningMOBMobile4 hr
Jun 8, 4:48 PM CDTTornado WarningMOBBaldwin27 min
Jun 8, 6:45 PM CDTTornado WarningMOBBaldwin45 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.