Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1990

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 121, NWS Birmingham, AL

July 2, 1990Pickens County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 2, 1990, 2:33 PM CDT for Pickens County, Alabama. It was in force for 57 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 2, 1990, 2:33 PM CDT (19:33 UTC)
Expired
Jul 2, 1990, 3:30 PM CDT
In force
57 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, 7.6 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 1990-07-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1129 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 1990-07-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -7 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
1129 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-69 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1374 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
6 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-7 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
19 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 021935
SVRBHM
ALC107-022030-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
233 PM CDT MON JUL 2 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  330 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTH ALABAMA
 
   ...PICKENS COUNTY
 
AT 230 PM CDT LAMAR COUNTY SHERIFFS OFFICE REPORTED A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM IN NORTHERN PICKENS COUNTY. THIS STORM CONTAINED MARBLE
SIZED HAIL AND POSSIBLY HIGH WINDS...AND IS MOVING TO THE
SOUTH-SOUTHEAST AT 20 MPH.
 
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE 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, Jul 2, 12:53 PM CDT, 1 hour 40 minutes before
ALZ004>009-011-013-021900-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
1252 PM CDT MON JUL 2 1990

STRONG THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING RAPIDLY IN NORTHWEST ALABAMA.

AT 1250 PM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED AN AREA OF RAPIDLY
DEVELOPING THUNDERSTORMS IN NORTHWEST ALABAMA. THE STRONGEST STORM AT
THAT TIME WAS ALONG THE MARION-WINSTON-WALKER COUNTY LINE...JUST
NORTHWEST OF CARBON HILL.

OTHER STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE INDICATED IN NORTHEAST MISSISSIPPI
BETWEEN CLOUMBUS AND TUPELO...AND THESE STORMS COULD AFFECT MARION AND
LAMAR COUNTIES IN THE NEXT COUPLE OF HOURS.

THESE STORMS WILL BE ACCOMPANIED BY FREQUENT LIGHTNING...BRIEF HEAVY
DOWNPOURS AND STRONG GUSTY W<INDS.
Special weather statement, Jul 2, 1:28 PM CDT, 1 hour 5 minutes before
ALZ010-011-012-014-017-018-022030-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MONTGOMERY AL
121 PM CDT MON JUL 2 1990

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR MUCH OF SOUTH ALABAMA UNTIL 8 PM
CDT...

AT 125 PM CDT RADAR SHOWED THUNDERSTORMS SCATTERED OVER SOUTH ALABAMA
MOVING SOUTH AT AROUND 20 MILES AN HOUR. THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE
TO DEVELOPE VERY RAPIDLY OVER SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST ALABAMA
THROUGHOUT THE AFTERNOON AND EVyENING HOURS AND MAY PRODUCE LARGE HAIL
AND DAMAGING THUNDERSTORM WINDS. PERSONS SHOULD STAY
WEATHER ALERT AND LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL NEWS MEDIA FOR
LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 2, 1:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXWalker62 min
Jul 2, 1:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFayette54 min
Jul 2, 2:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson, Shelby50 min
Jul 2, 2:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBibb48 min
Jul 2, 3:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson44 min
Jul 2, 3:05 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPickens45 min
Jul 2, 3:05 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPerry45 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.