Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1990

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 133, NWS Birmingham, AL

August 19, 1990Cherokee County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 19, 1990, 2:34 PM CDT for Cherokee County, Alabama. It was in force for 21 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 19, 1990, 2:34 PM CDT (19:34 UTC)
Expired
Aug 19, 1990, 2:55 PM CDT
In force
21 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Cherokee 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 205 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 1990-08-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 1990-08-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 40 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
0 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
7 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
40 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
26 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 191935
SVRBHM
ALC019-192000-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
234 PM CDT SUN AUG 19 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  300 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTH ALABAMA
 
   ...CHEROKEE COUNTY
 
AT 2:35 PM WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IN
CHEROKE COUNTY NEAR WEISS RESERVOIR. THE STORM WAS DRIFTING SLOWLY
SOUTHEAST AT ABOUT 5 MPH.
 
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER FROM THE WEATHER IN A
STRONG BUILDING.  DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN...
AND DEADLY LIGHTNING ARE ALL POSSIBLE IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.
STAY INSIDE AWAY FROM WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.

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, Aug 19, 1:58 PM CDT, 36 minutes before
ALZ004>009-011-182300-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
157 PM CDT SUN AUG 19 1990

AT 156 PM...WEATHER SERVICE RADAR AT CENTREVILLE INDICTED A STRONG
THUNDERSTORM ALONG THE CHEROKEE/DE KALB COUNTY LINE BETWEEN COLLINSVILLE
AND WEISS LAKE.  THIS STORM WAS PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAIN AND STRONG
GUSTY WINDS...ALSO SOME SMALL HAIL WAS INDICATED.  OTHER STRONG STORMS
WERE IN SOUTH CENTRAL CLAY COUNTY...SOUTH OF ASHLAND.  THESE STORMS WERE
DRIFTING SLOWLY TO THE SOUTHEAST.  THE STORM IN CHEROKEE COUNTY WILL
MOVE OVER WEISS RESERVOIR.  BOATERS SHOULD MOVE TO SAFE SHELTER AND
BATHERS SHOULD MOVE AWAY FROM SHORE AND INTO SAFE SHELTER UNTIL THE
STORM HAS PASSED.

OTHER LIGHT TO MODERATE SHOWERS WERE IN BLOUNT AND SHELBY COUNTIES.

ALL OF THE RAIN ACTIVITY WAS MOVING SLOWLY TO THE EAST SOUTHEAST AND
BECAUSE OF THEIR SLOW MOVEMENT...HEAVY RAINFALL AMOUNTS ARE POSSIBLE IN
A SHORT TIME.

CONTINUE TO LISTEN TO YODUR LOCAL TV...RADIO OR NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR
THE LATEST WEATHER UPDATES AND STATEMENTS.
Special weather statement, Aug 19, 2:11 PM CDT, 23 minutes before
ALZ010-011-012-014-017-018-192100-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MONTGOMERY AL
210 PM CDT SUN AUG 19 1990

AT 200 PM CDT RADAR AT MONTGOMERY SHOWED A CLUSTER OF STRONG
THUNDERSTORMS OVER NORTHEAST COOSA COUNTY AND NORTHWEST TALLAPOOSA
COUNTY. THE HEAVIER STORMS WERE 5 MILES WEST AND 10 MILES NORTHWEST
OF ALEXANDER CITY. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE DRIFTING SLOWLY TO THE
SOUTH AND WILL BE PRODUCING VERY HEAVY DOWNPOURS...INTENSE LIGHTNING
...AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS ALONG WITH THE POSSIBILTY OF SMALL HAIL.
FLOODING OF STREETS AND LOW LYING AREAS IS ALSO POSSIBLE DUE TO THE
SLOW MOVEMENT OF THE STORMS.

OTHER WIDELY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WERE DEVELOPING OVER SOUTH
ALABAMA AKND WILL CONTINUE TO DEVELOPE DURING THE AFTERNOON AND
EVENING HOURS. PERSONS IN SOUTH ALABAMA AS WELL AS BOATERS ON
AREA LAKES AND RIVERS SHOULD REMAIN ALERT AND SEEK SHELTER WHEN
THUNDERSTORMS APPROACH.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 19, 6:41 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarengo, Perry34 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.