Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1990

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 32, NWS Birmingham, AL

April 1, 1990Chilton County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 1, 1990, 5:18 PM CDT for Chilton County, Alabama. It was in force for 27 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Apr 1, 1990, 5:18 PM CDT (22:18 UTC)
Expired
Apr 1, 1990, 5:45 PM CDT
In force
27 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Chilton 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, 10.3 hours before the alert went out and 45 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 012221
SVRBHM
ALC021-012245-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
518 PM CDT SUN APR 1 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  545 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS......
 
IN SOUTH ALABAMA
 
   ...SOUTHERN CHILTON COUNTY
 
AT 513 PM TREES WERE REPORTED DOWN IN THE ENTERPRISE AREA OF CHILTON
COUNTY. THE THUNDERSTORM PRODUCING THIS DAMAGE WAS MOVING EAST AT 30
TO 40 MPH. THIS WARNING EXTENDS THE PREVIOUS SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
WARNING THAT EXPIRED AT 515 PM CDT.
 
WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A
STRONG BUILDING.  DO NOT STAoND BY WINDOWS.  DON'T USE TELEPHONES
OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL THE STORM
HAS PASSED.  MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE INTO LOW WATER CROSSINGS.

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, 4 hours 37 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, 3 hours 37 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.
Special weather statement, Apr 1, 3:45 PM CDT, 1 hour 33 minutes before
ALZ010-011-012-014-017-018-012245-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MONTGOMERY AL
343 PM CDT SUN APR 1 1990

AT 340 PM CDT...RADAR INDICATED A BAND OF THUNDERSTORMS OVER COOSA
COUNTY IN SOUTH ALABAMA. THIS BAND EXTENDED WEST INTO WEST CENTRAL
ALABAMA AND EAST MISSISSIPPI. MOVEMENT WAS EAST SOUTHEAST AT AROUND
30 MILES AN HOUR.

THE THUNDERSTORMS IN COOSA COUNTY WILL PRODUCE DANGEROUS LIGHTNING
...GUSTY WINDS AND POSSIBLY SOME HAIL. THE STORMS IN WEST ALABAMA
AND EAST CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI HAVE PRODUCED SOME HAIL. PERSONS IN
SOUTH ALABAMA SHOULD STAY ABREAST OF THE WEATHER SITUATION THIS
AFTERNOON AND EVENING AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS OR POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.

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, 2:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXHale, Tuscaloosa51 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

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.