Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1990

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 26, NWS Birmingham, AL

April 1, 1990Hale County, Tuscaloosa County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 1, 1990, 2:54 PM CDT for Hale County, Tuscaloosa County, Alabama. It was in force for 51 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Apr 1, 1990, 2:54 PM CDT (19:54 UTC)
Expired
Apr 1, 1990, 3:45 PM CDT
In force
51 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

Counties Hale County, AL, Tuscaloosa 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, 7.9 hours before the alert went out and 38 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 1990-04-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 667 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 1990-04-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 25 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
667 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-72 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
840 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
34 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
25 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
20 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBHM 011957
SVRBHM
ALC125-065-012045-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
254 PM CDT SUN APR 1 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  345 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS....
 
IN NORTH ALABAMA
 
   ...SOUTHERN TUSCALOOSA COUNTY
 
IN SOUTH ALABAMA
 
   ...HALE COUNTY
 
AT 355 PM CDT WEATHER SERVICE RADAR IN CENTREVILLE INDICATED SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM MOVING INTO SOUTHERN TUSCALOOSA AND HALE COUNTIES.
THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TO THE 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, Apr 1, 12:41 PM CDT, 2 hours 13 minutes before
ALZ008-007-011-011840-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
1240 PM CDT SUN APR 1 1990

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING IN ALABAMA...

AT 1240 PM WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM NEAR
THE ALABAMA MISSISSIPPI BORDER...ABOUT 20 MILES WEST NORTHWEST OF
ALICEVILLE IN PICKENS COUNTY.  ANOTHER STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS IN
TALLEDEGA COUNTY ABOUT 10 MILES SOUTHWEST OF THE CITY OF TALLEDEGA.
THIS STORM WILL AFFECT OR PAST CLOSE TO THE CITY OF ASHLAND IN CLAY
COUNTY WITHIN THE HOUR.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TO THE EAST AT 30 MPH.  THESE STORMS
ARE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAIN...STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND
POSSIBLY SOME HAIL.
Special weather statement, Apr 1, 1:41 PM CDT, 1 hour 13 minutes before
ALZ008-007-011-011940-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
140 PM CDT SUN APR 1 1990

AT 140 PM WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED A WEAKENING TREND OF
THUNDERSTORMS IN PICKENS AND CLAY COUNTIES. THE THUNDERSHOWER IN CLAY
COUNTY WILL AFFECT THE COMMUNTIES OF BARFIELD AND DELTA WITHIN THE
NEXT 30 MINUTES OR SO.  THE OTHER STORM IN PICKENS COUNTY HAS
DISSIPATED. THESE THUNDERSHOWERS AND SHOWERS WERE MOVING TO THE EAST
NORTHEAS3T AT 25 MPH.

WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWS MORE THUNDERSTORMS IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN
MISSISSIPPI. THESE STORMS MAY AFFECT THE WEST CENTRAL COUNTIES BY
2 PM.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 1, 2:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXGreene, Pickens48 min
Apr 1, 3:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXGreene28 min
Apr 1, 3:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXHale26 min
Apr 1, 4:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPerry42 min
Apr 1, 4:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBibb36 min
Apr 1, 4:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXChilton64 min
Apr 1, 5:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXChilton27 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.