Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1990
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 80, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 21, 1990, 9:34 AM CDT for Pickens County, Alabama. It was in force for 41 min.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- May 21, 1990, 9:34 AM CDT (14:34 UTC)
- Expired
- May 21, 1990, 10:15 AM CDT
- In force
- 41 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Pickens 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, 2.6 hours before the alert went out and 93 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
- 173 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -336 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1194 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 32 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 141 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 149 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.3
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KBHM 211440 COR SVRBHM ALC107-211515- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING...CORRECTION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 934 AM CDT MON MAY 21 1990 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1015 AM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN NORTH ALABAMA ...PICKENS COUNTY AT 933 AM CDT RADAR INDICATES A SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN PICKENS COUNTY. THIS THUNDERSTORMS IS MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH. WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING. DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS. DON'T USE TELEPHONES OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED. MOTORISBTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE INTO LOW WATER CROSSINGS.
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 21, 7:46 AM CDT, 1 hour 48 minutes before
ALZ004>006-008>009-211345- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 745 AM CDT MON MAY 21 1990 A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WAS MOVING INTO NORTHWEST ALABAMA THIS MORNING. THE LINE OF STORMS STRETCHED FROM MUSCLE SHOALS TO HAMILTON IN MARION COUNTY. THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE MOVING TO THE EAST AT 40 MPH. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL PRODUCE HEAVY RAIN...STRONG GUSTY WINDS... AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE INTO LAMAR... WINSTON AND FAYETTE COUNTIES BEFORE 830 AM. IF YOU LIVE IN THE COMMUNITIES OF HAMILTON...BRILLANT...SULLIGENT...VERNON AND WINFIELD... YOU SHOULD STAY INDOORS UNTIL THESE THUNDERSTORMS PASS. ALABAMIANS CAN EXPECT ANOTHER DAY OF THUNDERSTORMS...POSSIBLY SEVERE. YOU SHOULD KEEP UP TO DATE ON THE WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS LATER TODAY.
Special weather statement, May 21, 8:33 AM CDT, 1 hour 1 minute before
ALZ004>006-008>009-211330- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 830 AM CDT MON MAY 21 1990 AN INTENSE BUT SHORT LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WAS ALONG THE ALABAMA MISSISSIPPI BORDER...10 TO 20 MILES WEST OF VERNON AND MILLPORT IN LAMAR COUNTY. WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED THESE THUNDERSTORMS MAY HAVE SOME HAIL. THESE STORMS ARE RACING TO THE EAST AT 50 MPH. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL PRODUCE VERY HEAVY RAIN...STRONG GUSTY WINDS... DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND POSSIBLY SOME HAIL. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE LAMAR AND PICKENS COUNTIES BEFORE 900 AM. IF YOU LIVE IN THESE COUNTIES ...YOU SHOULD STAY INDOORS UNTILL THESE THUNDERSTORMS PASS. RESIDENTS IN CENTRAL ALABAMA SH8OULD REMAIN ALERT THIS MORNING AND AFTERNOON AS THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE WIDESPREAD AND SOME MAY BECOME SEVERE. KEEP UP-TO-DATE ON THE LATEST WEATHER CONDITIONS BY LISTENING TO LOCAL RADIO...TELEVISION...OR NOAA WEATHER RADIO.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 20, 7:01 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Tuscaloosa | 59 min |
| May 20, 7:06 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lawrence | 39 min |
| May 20, 7:34 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Limestone, Morgan | 26 min |
| May 20, 7:55 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Madison | 35 min |
| May 20, 8:32 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Morgan | 43 min |
| May 21, 7:24 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Colbert, Franklin, Lauderdale | 36 min |
| May 21, 8:36 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lamar | 54 min |
| May 21, 10:59 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Pickens | 46 min |
| May 21, 11:18 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Chilton, Shelby | 57 min |
| May 21, 11:32 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Greene | 58 min |
| May 21, 11:37 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Talladega | 38 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.