Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1990

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 128, NWS Birmingham, AL

July 22, 1990Madison County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 22, 1990, 4:38 PM CDT for Madison County, Alabama. It was in force for 67 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
Jul 22, 1990, 4:38 PM CDT (21:38 UTC)
Expired
Jul 22, 1990, 5:45 PM CDT
In force
67 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Madison 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
Jul 22, 5:15 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 0Madison, 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

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 12:00Z, 9.6 hours before the alert went out and 152 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 1990-07-22Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 456 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 1990-07-22The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 73 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
456 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-46 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
581 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
73 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
50 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 KHSV 222140
SVRHSV
ALC089-222245-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
438 PM CDT SUN JUL 22 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HUNTSVILLE HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  545 PM CDT
 
 
IN NORTH ALABAMA
 
   ...MADISON COUNTY
 
AT 437 PM CDT HUNTSVILLE RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WEST OF
HUNTSVILLE MOVING EAST AT 30 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 22, 4:21 PM CDT, 17 minutes before
ALZ004>008-222330-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
420 PM CDT SUN JUL 22 1990

STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING ACROSS NORTHWEST ALABAMA LATE THIS
AFTERNOON.

AT 420 PM WEATHER RADAR AT CENTREVILLE SHOWED A BAND OF STRONG STORMS
OVER NORTHWEST ALABAMA THAT EXTENDED ACROSS MARION AND LAMAR COUNTIES.
THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORM WAS IN MARION COUNTY NEAR HAMILTON.  THE
THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH AND WILL BE MOVING INTO WINSTON
FAYETTE AND NORTHWEST WALKER COUNTY BEFORE 5 PM.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING HEAVY RAIN...INTENSE
LIGHTNING AND GUSTY WINDS.  PERSONS IN NORTH ALABABAMA SHOULD BE
PREPARED TO MOVE INTO SAFE SHELTER IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES.

LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR LOCAL RADIO OR TV STATION FOR
THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 22, 4:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLimestone, Madison, Morgan69 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.