Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1990
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 52, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 3, 1990, 6:17 PM CDT for Jefferson County, Alabama. It was in force for 43 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
- May 3, 1990, 6:17 PM CDT (23:17 UTC)
- Expired
- May 3, 1990, 7:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 43 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Jefferson 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 3, 6:19 PM CDT | Hail 0.75 | Jefferson, 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
Centreville/Bibb, AL (KCKL), launched 12:00Z, 11.3 hours before the alert went out and 78 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 0 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 29 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 94 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 187 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KBHM 032318 SVRBHM ALC073-040000- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 617 PM CDT THU MAY 3 1990 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 700 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN NORTH ALABAMA ...JEFFERSON COUNTY AT 612 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM NEAR THE CITY OF BIRMINGHAM. THIS THUNDERSTORM WAS PRODUCING WIND GUSTS OF 60 MPH AND HAIL AS IT MOVED THROUGH THE DOWNTOWN AREA. THIS THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING NORTH AT 25 MPH.
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, May 3, 6:04 PM CDT, 13 minutes before
ALZ005>007-040030- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 605 PM CDT THU MAY 3 1990 WIDELY SCATTERED SHOWERS WITH A FEW ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEVELOPED OVER THE NORTHCENTRAL COUNTIES. THE STRONGEST STORMS WERE LOCATED NEAR THE CITY OF BIRMINGHAM...IN BLOUNT COUNTY NEAR THE CITY OF ONEONTA...AND IN ETOWAH COUNTY NEAR THE CITY OF GADSDEN. PEA SIZE HAS BEEN REPORTED IN THE THUNDERSTORM NEAR THE CITY OF BIRMINGHAM. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TO THE NORTH AT 25 MPH.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 3, 6:45 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Blount, St. Clair | 45 min |
| May 3, 6:59 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Marshall | 61 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.