Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Mobile, AL

March 5, 1989Dallas County, Alabama

NWS Mobile, AL issued this tornado warning at Mar 5, 1989, 1:43 PM CST for Dallas County, Alabama. It was in force for 62 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 5, 1989, 1:43 PM CST (19:43 UTC)
Expired
Mar 5, 1989, 2:45 PM CST
In force
62 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 5, 1:50 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, 7.7 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 1989-03-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 771 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, Centreville/Bibb, AL at 12:00Z on 1989-03-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 266 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
771 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-19 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
581 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
43 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
266 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
304 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.0
Supercell composite
5.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMGM 052016
TORMGM
ALC047-052045-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MONTGOMERY AL
143 PM CST SUN MAR 5 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MONTGOMERY HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  245 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTH ALABAMA
          ...DALLAS
 
RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO IN DALLAS COUNTY MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 TO
50 MILES AN HOUR. THE TORNADO IS 15 MILES SOUTHWEST OF SELMA ALABAMA.
TAKE COVER.
 
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 5, 2:47 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBDallas43 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Alabama, 1989Every tornado warning in 1989Tornadoes 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.