Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1990

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 167, NWS Birmingham, AL

December 30, 1990Limestone County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Dec 30, 1990, 2:44 PM CST for Limestone County, Alabama. It was in force for 46 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
Dec 30, 1990, 2:44 PM CST (20:44 UTC)
Expired
Dec 30, 1990, 3:30 PM CST
In force
46 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Limestone 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
Dec 30, 3:15 PM CSTThunderstorm Wind 0Limestone, 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, 8.7 hours before the alert went out and 151 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 1990-12-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 165 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 1990-12-30The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 327 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
165 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-5 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
566 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
70 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
327 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
360 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.3
Supercell composite
1.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

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, Dec 30, 1:54 PM CST, 50 minutes before
ALZ004>008-011-013-302100-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
1:54 PM CST SAT DEC 29 1990

    ...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA...

AT 1:50 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR IN CENTREVILLE INDICATED A
LINE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA. THE
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE THE RESULT OF A VERY STRONG ARCTIC COLD FRONT
MOVING INTO THE WARM AND MOIST AIRMASS IN PLACE ACROSS THE STATE OF
ALABAMA.

THE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED FROM NEAR MUSCLE SHOALS TO JUST WEST
OF THE MARION COUNTY AND MISSISSIPPI BORDER AND BACK INTO EAST CENTRAL
MISSISSIPPI. THE STRONGEST STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO MOVE INTO MARION AND
LAMAR COUNTIES WITHIN THE NEXT HOUR. THESE STORMS ARE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING
HEAVY RAIN AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS. MOVEMENT OF THESE STORMS WAS TO THE
NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH. OTHER SCATTERED SHOWERS HAVE ALREADY DEVELOPED OVER
WEST CENTRAL ALABHAMA.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Dec 30, 3:00 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLawrence33 min
Dec 30, 3:17 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMadison, Morgan16 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.