Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Mobile, AL

March 15, 1989Montgomery County, Alabama

NWS Mobile, AL issued this tornado warning at Mar 15, 1989, 10:14 PM CST for Montgomery County, Alabama. It was in force for 46 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Mar 15, 1989, 10:14 PM CST (04:14 UTC)
Expired
Mar 15, 1989, 11:00 PM CST
In force
46 min
Issued by
NWS Mobile, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Montgomery County, AL

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

The nearest sounding before it

Centreville/Bibb, AL (KCKL), launched 00:00Z, 4.2 hours before the alert went out and 120 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 00:00Z on 1989-03-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 286 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 00:00Z on 1989-03-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 66 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
286 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-33 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1686 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
43 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
66 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
138 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
2.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMGM 160417
TORMGM
ALC101-160500-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MONTGOMERY AL
1014 PM CST WED MAR 15 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MONTGOMERY HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1100 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTH ALABAMA
          ...NORTHERN MONTGOMERY
 
AT 1013 PM CST MONTGOMERY RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO OVER
EXTREME NORTH MONTGOMERY COUNTY AND SHOULD PASS OVER EXTREME
NORTH MONTGOMERY CITY. MOVEMENT WAS EAST AT 25 MPH.
 
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 INTERIORi 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 15, 8:32 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBDallas58 min
Mar 15, 8:53 PM CSTTornado WarningMOBAutauga, Dallas67 min
Mar 15, 9:59 PM CSTTornado WarningMOBElmore61 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.