Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1990
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 57, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 12, 1990, 6:06 PM CDT for Marengo County, Alabama. It was in force for 69 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 12, 1990, 6:06 PM CDT (23:06 UTC)
- Expired
- May 12, 1990, 7:15 PM CDT
- In force
- 69 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Marengo 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 12, 7:00 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 0 | Marengo, 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, 11.1 hours before the alert went out and 91 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
- 1743 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 45 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 255 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 288 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 122308 SVRBHM ALC091-130015- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 606 PM CDT SAT MAY 12 1990 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 715 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN SOUTH ALABAMA ...MARENGO COUNTY AT 605 PM RADAR DETECTED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM MOVING ACROSS CHOCTAW COUNTY WHICH WILL SOON BE ENTERING SOUTHERN MARENGO COUNTY. IT IS MOVI EAST AT 40 MPH AND WILL BE AFFECTING THE TOWNS OF SWEET WATER AND DIXONS MILLS DURING THE NEXT HOUR. 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 12, 5:09 PM CDT, 57 minutes before
ALZ004>009-011-013-122300- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 508 PM CDT SAT MAY 12 1990 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING TOWARDS WESTERN ALABAMA... AT 508 PM CDT A BAND OF THUNDERSTORMS WAS MOVING ACROSS EASTERN MISSISSIPPI AND WILL BE MOVING INTO PARTS OF WESTERN ALABAMA BEFORE 6 PM. THE STORNGEST STORMS WILL AFFECT PARTS OF SUMTER...CHOCTAW AND MARENGO COUNTIES. THE STORMS WILL BE ACCOMPANIED BY HEAVY DOWNPOURS... STRONG GUSTY WINDS...FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING STRIKES AND SOME HAIL. THE STORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH. PERSONS ACROSS CENTRAL ALABAMA...ESPECIALLY IN THE WESTERN COUNTIES... NEED TO KEEP AN EYE ON THE STORMS AND BE READY TO SEEK SHELTER IF A WARNING IS ISSUED. ELSEWHERE AT 508 PM CDT A LARGE AREA OF RAIN...AT TIMES HEAVY...COVERED SECTIONS OF NORTHWEST ALABAMA...EXTENDING BACK INTO NORTHEAST MISSISSIPPI. FOR THE NEXT FEW HOURS THE HEAVIEST RAIN WILL FALL BETWEEN TUSCALOOSA AND MUSCLE SHOALS.
Special weather statement, May 12, 5:48 PM CDT, 18 minutes before
ALZ004>009-011-013-130000- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 545 PM CDT SAT MAY 12 1990 ...VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO WESTERN ALABAMA... AT 545 PM CDT A BAND OF THUNDERSTORMS WAS LOCATED JUST SOUTH OF MERIDIAN MISSISSIPPI AND WILL BE MOVING SHORTLY INTO CHOCTAW COUNTY ALABAMA. THESE STORMS WILL MOVE ACROSS PARTS OF MARENGO COUNTY BY 615 PM CDT. THE STORMS WILL BE ACCOMPANIED BY HEAVY DOWNPOURS...STRONG GUSTY WINDS ...FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING STRIKES AND SOME HAIL. THE STORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH. PERSONS ACROSS CENTRAL ALABAMA...ESPECIALLY IN THE WESTERN COUNTIES... NEED TO KEEP AN EYE ON THE STORMS AND BE READY TO SEEK SHELTER IF A WARNING IS ISSUED. ELSEWHERE AT 545 PM CDT A LARGE AREA OF RAIN...AT TIMES HEAVY...COVERED PARTS OF WEST CENTRAL AND NORTH ALABAMA. THE HEAVIEST RAIN WAS FALLING ACROSS PICKENS...FAYETTE...MARION AND LAMAR COUNTIES...SPREADING INTO TUSCALOOSA...WALKER AND WINSTON COUNTIES.
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.