Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1990

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 54, NWS Birmingham, AL

May 3, 1990Marshall County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 3, 1990, 6:59 PM CDT for Marshall County, Alabama. It was in force for 61 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, 6:59 PM CDT (23:59 UTC)
Expired
May 3, 1990, 8:00 PM CDT
In force
61 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Marshall 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 3, 7:20 PM CDTHail 1Marshall, 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, 12.0 hours before the alert went out and 183 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

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

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, 55 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, 6:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBlount, St. Clair45 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.