Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1990

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 33, NWS Birmingham, AL

April 10, 1990Tuscaloosa County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 10, 1990, 12:52 PM CDT for Tuscaloosa County, Alabama. It was in force for 68 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Apr 10, 1990, 12:52 PM CDT (17:52 UTC)
Expired
Apr 10, 1990, 2:00 PM CDT
In force
68 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County 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, 5.9 hours before the alert went out and 53 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 1990-04-10Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 6 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 1990-04-10The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 200 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
6 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-53 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
830 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
200 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
340 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 101753
SVRBHM
ALC125-101900-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
1252 PM CDT TUE APR 10 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  200 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTH ALABAMA
 
   ...TUSCALOOSA COUNTY
 
A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS INDICATED BY RADAR MOVING INTO WESTERN
TUSCALOOSA COUNTY. THIS STORM WAS MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH AND SHOULD
MOVE THROUGH THE CITY OF TUSCALOOSA BY 115 PM CST.
 
 
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 10, 12:42 PM CDT, 10 minutes before
ALZ004>009-011-013-101900-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
1240 PM CDT TUE APR 10 1990

AT 1240 PM CST A FEW THUNDERSTORMS HAD DEVELOPED OVER WEST ALABAMA.
THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED OVER WALKER...FAYETTE...AND
PICKENS COUNTIES. THE AREA OF THUNDERSTORMS WAS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT
40 MPH.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL LIKELY MOVE INTO THE TUSCALOOSA AREA BY 100
PM AND WILL PRODUCE HEAVY RAIN...STRONG GUSTY WINDS...DEADLY LIGHTNING
...AND POSSIBLY SMALL HAIL AS THEY MOVE THROUGH.

PERSONS SHOULD REMAIN ALERT FOR THE REMAINDER OF THIS AFTERNOON AND
EVENING FOR THE POSSIBILITY OF SEVERE WEATHER AS THIS APPROACHING
WEATHER SYSTEM FURTHER DEVELOPS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 10, 1:35 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson55 min
Apr 10, 2:05 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXShelby55 min
Apr 10, 2:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCalhoun, Etowah50 min
Apr 10, 3:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXClay, Cleburne43 min
Apr 10, 4:08 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXRandolph67 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.