Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1990
Tornado Warning 7, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Feb 9, 1990, 8:45 PM CST for Lamar County, Alabama. It was in force for 30 min.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- Feb 9, 1990, 8:45 PM CST (02:45 UTC)
- Expired
- Feb 9, 1990, 9:15 PM CST
- In force
- 30 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Lamar 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 00:00Z, 2.8 hours before the alert went out and 128 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
- 897 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -14 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 603 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 50 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 282 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 340 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 1.5
- Supercell composite
- 7.7
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KBHM 100245 TORBHM ALC075-100315- BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 845 PM CST FRI FEB 9 1990 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 915 PM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... IN NORTH ALABAMA ...LAMAR COUNTY AT 843 PM CENTREVILLE RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO IN SOUTHWEST LAMAR COUNTY MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS... OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY. AVOID WINDOWS.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this tornado 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, Feb 9, 7:16 PM CST, 1 hour 29 minutes before
ALZ010-100300- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MONTGOMERY AL 715 PM CST FRI FEB 9 1990 AT 710 PM CST WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A FAST MOVING THUNDERSTORM 20 MILES WEST SOUTHWEST OF MONTGOMERY MOVING NORTHEAST AT NEARLY 50 MPH. THIS THUNDERSTORM SHOULD STAY WEST OF MONTGOMERY BUT MOVE OVER PRATTVILLE BEFORE 8 PM AND NEAR WETUMPKA THIRTY MINUTES LATER. HEAVY RAIN...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND POSSIBLE HAIL MAY BE ASSOCIATED WITH THIS THUNDERSTORM.
Special weather statement, Feb 9, 8:41 PM CST, 4 minutes before
ALZ004-005-006-008-009-100400- SEVERE WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 840 PM CST FRI FEB 9 1990 THUNDERSTORMS LOCATED IN NORTHEAST MISSISSIPPI WERE MOVING INTO WESTERN ALABAMA. AT 838 PM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS LOCATED IN NORTHEAST MISSISSIPPI MOVING RAPIDLY TO THE NORTHEAST. THE STORMS WILL MOVE INTO MARION...LAMAR...FAYETTE AND WINSTON COUNTIES IN THE NEXT 30 TO 60 MINUTES. THESE THUNDERSTORMS CONTAIN HEAVY RAIN...LIGHTNING...AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS. PERSONS IN WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA NEED TO BE READY TO SEEK SHELTER IF WEATHER CONDITIONS TURNS THREATENING.
Special weather statement, Feb 9, 8:42 PM CST, 3 minutes before
ALZ004-005-006-008-009-100400- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 840 PM CST FRI FEB 9 1990 THUNDERSTORMS LOCATED IN NORTHEAST MISSISSIPPI WERE MOVING INTO WESTERN ALABAMA. AT 838 PM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS LOCATED IN NORTHEAST MISSISSIPPI MOVING RAPIDLY TO THE NORTHEAST. THE STORMS WILL MOVE INTO MARION...LAMAR...FAYETTE AND WINSTON COUNTIES IN THE NEXT 30 TO 60 MINUTES. THESE THUNDERSTORMS CONTAIN HEAVY RAIN...LIGHTNING...AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS. PERSONS IN WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA NEED TO BE READY TO SEEK SHELTER IF WEATHER CONDITIONS TURNS THREATENING.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 9, 8:29 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lauderdale | 61 min |
| Feb 9, 8:56 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Fayette | 34 min |
| Feb 9, 9:23 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Lamar | 37 min |
| Feb 9, 9:30 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Fayette | 30 min |
| Feb 9, 9:43 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Walker | 47 min |
| Feb 9, 10:08 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Limestone | 27 min |
| Feb 9, 10:22 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Madison | 68 min |
| Feb 9, 10:53 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Jackson, Madison | 37 min |
| Feb 9, 11:02 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Walker | 28 min |
| Feb 9, 11:16 PM CST | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Colbert, Lauderdale | 4 hr |
| Feb 9, 11:28 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Cullman, Winston | 47 min |
| Feb 9, 11:35 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Walker | 40 min |
| Feb 9, 11:35 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Lamar | 40 min |
| Feb 10, 12:53 AM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Walker | 22 min |
| Feb 10, 12:53 AM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Jefferson | 37 min |
| Feb 10, 1:06 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Pickens | 69 min |
| Feb 10, 1:22 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Greene | 68 min |
| Feb 10, 1:30 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Colbert, Franklin, Lawrence | 5 hr |
| Feb 10, 1:30 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Limestone, Madison, Marshall, Morgan | 5 hr |
| Feb 10, 1:30 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Lauderdale | 5 hr |
| Feb 10, 1:30 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | DeKalb, Jackson | 5 hr |
| Feb 10, 1:33 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Tuscaloosa | 57 min |
| Feb 10, 1:53 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Hale | 67 min |
| Feb 10, 2:00 AM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Greene, Hale | 35 min |
| Feb 10, 2:06 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Marengo | 29 min |
| Feb 10, 2:19 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Jefferson | 56 min |
| Feb 10, 2:20 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Bibb | 55 min |
| Feb 10, 2:32 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Shelby | 58 min |
| Feb 10, 2:39 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Chilton | 51 min |
| Feb 10, 2:40 AM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Jefferson, Shelby | 30 min |
| Feb 10, 2:50 AM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | St. Clair | 55 min |
| Feb 10, 2:54 AM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Talladega | 66 min |
| Feb 10, 3:11 AM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Clay | 64 min |
| Feb 10, 3:11 AM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Calhoun | 64 min |
| Feb 10, 3:33 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Cleburne, Randolph | 37 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Alabama, 1990Every tornado warning in 1990Tornadoes 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.