Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1990

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 53, NWS Birmingham, AL

May 3, 1990Blount County, St. Clair County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 3, 1990, 6:45 PM CDT for Blount County, St. Clair County, Alabama. It was in force for 45 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 3, 1990, 6:45 PM CDT (23:45 UTC)
Expired
May 3, 1990, 7:30 PM CDT
In force
45 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

Counties Blount County, AL, St. Clair 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, 11.8 hours before the alert went out and 127 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 1990-05-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 1990-05-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 94 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
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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBHM 032345
SVRBHM
ALC009-115-040030-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
645 PM CDT THU MAY 3 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  730 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN NORTH ALABAMA
 
   ...BLOUNT COUNTY...WESTERN ST.CLAIR COUNTY
 
AT 640 PM...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WERE INDICATED ALONG THE ST.CLAIR AND
BLOUNT COUNTY LINE. THESE STORMS WERE PRODUCING WIND GUSTS IN EXCESS
OF 60 MPH AND LARGE HAIL AS THEY MOVE NORTH AT 25 MPH. THESE STORMS
WILL MOVE INTO THE ONEONTA AREA AROUND 7 PM.
 
 
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, May 3, 6:04 PM CDT, 41 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.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 3, 6:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson43 min
May 3, 6:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarshall61 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.