Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1990

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 1, NWS Birmingham, AL

February 3, 1990Pickens County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Feb 3, 1990, 5:02 PM CST for Pickens County, Alabama. It was in force for 43 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Feb 3, 1990, 5:02 PM CST (23:02 UTC)
Expired
Feb 3, 1990, 5:45 PM CST
In force
43 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Pickens 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 12:00Z, 11.0 hours before the alert went out and 93 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 1990-02-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 48 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 1990-02-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 202 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
48 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-7 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
609 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
48 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
202 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
252 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBHM 032305
SVRBHM
ALC107-032345-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
502 PM CST SAT FEB 3 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  545 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN NORTH ALABAMA
 
   ...PICKENS COUNTY
 
A 500 PM CST RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM MOVING INTO
SOUTHWEST PICKENS COUNTY. THIS STORM IS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH
AND WILL PRODUCE HIGH GUSTY WINDS...ALONG WITH BRIEF HEAVY RAINS.
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
FOR YOUR PROTECTION MO~VE 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

Special weather statement, Feb 3, 4:47 PM CST, 15 minutes before
ALZALL-032330-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
545 PM CST SAT FEB 3 1990

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR MUCH OF NORTHERN AND
WESTERN ALABAMA AND WILL CONTINUE UNTIL 10 PM...

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR AT 545 PM CST SHOWED A LINE OF
THUNDERSTORMS IN EXTREME EASTERN MISSISSIPPI MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST
AT 25 MPH. THE LINE WILL BE MOVING INTO WEST CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST
ALABAMA BY 5 PM CST.

THE STRONGEST STORM WAS LOCATED ABOUT 40 MILES NORTH OF MERIDIAN
MISSISSIPPI...AND WILL BE MOVING INTO PICKENS COUNTY OF ALABAMA BY
5 PM CST.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS CONTAIN BRIEF HEAVY RAIN...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...
AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS. PERSONS I]N WEST CENTRAL AND NORTH WEST ALABAMA
SHOULD BE PREPAIRED TO SEEK SHELTER AS THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES.
Special weather statement, Feb 3, 4:48 PM CST, 14 minutes before
ALZ010-011-012-014-017-018-040000-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MONTGOMERY AL
445 PM CST SAT FEB 3 1990

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH UNTIL 10 PM FOR AUTAUGA...LOWNDES...
DALLAS...WILCOX AND BUTLER COUNTIES...

AT 440 PM CST RADAR AT MONTGOMERY INDICATED SCATTERED SHOWERS OVER
SOUTHEAST ALABAMA FROM ANDALUSIA TO EUFAULA. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS WERE OVER EAST CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI THROUGH NORTHWEST
ALABAMaA. MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AT AROUND 30 MILES AN HOUR.

PERSONS IN SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST ALABAMA SHOULD REMAIN WEATHER
ALERT TONIGHT AND LISTEN NOAA WEATHER RADIO AND LOCAL NEWS MEDIA FOR
LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.
Special weather statement, Feb 3, 4:53 PM CST, 9 minutes before
ALZALL-032330-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...COR
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
445 PM CST SAT FEB 3 1990

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR MUCH OF NORTHERN AND
WESTERN ALABAMA AND WILL CONTINUE UNTIL 10 PM...

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR AT 445 PM CST SHOWED A LINE OF
THUNDERSTORMS IN EXTREME EASTERN MISSISSIPPI MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST
AT 25 MPH. THE LINE WILL BE MOVING INTO WEST CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST
ALABAMA BY 5 PM CST.

THE STRONGEST STORM WAS LOCATED ABOUT 40 MILES NORTH OF MERIDIAN
MISSISSIPPI...AND WILL BE MOVING INTO PICKENS COUNTY OF ALABAMA BY
5 PM CST.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS CONTAIN BRIEF HEAVY RAIN...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...
AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS.m PERSONS IN WEST CENTRAL AND NORTH WEST ALABAMA
SHOULD BE PREPAIRED TO SEEK SHELTER AS THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Feb 3, 5:53 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXLimestone, Madison, Morgan4 hr
Feb 3, 5:53 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXLawrence4 hr
Feb 3, 5:58 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXPickens47 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Alabama, 1990Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1990

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.