Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1990

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 56, NWS Birmingham, AL

May 3, 1990Jackson County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 3, 1990, 7:45 PM CDT for Jackson County, Alabama. It was in force for 60 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, 7:45 PM CDT (00:45 UTC)
Expired
May 3, 1990, 8:45 PM CDT
In force
60 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Jackson 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, 8:10 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 0Jackson, 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

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 00:00Z, 0.8 hours before the alert went out and 160 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 00:00Z on 1990-05-04Temperature 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 00:00Z on 1990-05-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 28 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
NaN m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
59 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
28 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
110 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KHSV 040044
SVRHSV
ALC071-040145-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
745 PM CDT THU MAY 3 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HUNTSVILLE HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  845 PM CDT
IN NORTH ALABAMA...
 
IN NORTH ALABAMA
 
   ...EASTERN JACKSON COUNTY
 
A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM CDT FOR
MARSHALL COUNTY ALABAMA. AT 738 PM CDT THE JACKSON COUNTY SHERIFFS
DEPARTMENT REPORTED MARBLES SIZE HAIL IN SECTION ALABAMA. HUNTSVILLE
RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IN EASTERN JACKSON COUNTY MOVING
NORTH NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH.
 
 
 
 
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 WATVER 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, 1 hour 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, 7:25 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCherokee35 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.