Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1990

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 111, NWS Mobile, AL

May 21, 1990Dallas County, Wilcox County, Alabama

NWS Mobile, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 21, 1990, 12:42 PM CDT for Dallas County, Wilcox County, Alabama. It was in force for 63 min. 3 reports 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 21, 1990, 12:42 PM CDT (17:42 UTC)
Expired
May 21, 1990, 1:45 PM CDT
In force
63 min
Issued by
NWS Mobile, AL
Area
Whole counties

Counties Dallas County, AL, Wilcox 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 21, 1:00 PM CDTHail 0.75Dallas, AL
May 21, 1:00 PM CDTHail 1.75Wilcox, AL
May 21, 1:00 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 0Dallas, 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, 5.7 hours before the alert went out and 83 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 1990-05-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 173 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 1990-05-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 141 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMGM 211746
SVRMGM
ALC047-131-211845-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MONTGOMERY AL
1242 PM CDT MON MAY 21 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MONTGOMERY HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  145 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTH ALABAMA
 
   ...DALLAS COUNTY...WILCOX COUNTY
 
WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS FROM NEAR SELMA
SOUTHWESTWARD INTO WILCOX COUNTY WEST OF CAMDEN. THESE STORMS WILL BE
OVER SELMA IN ABOUT 15 MINUTES AND OVER CAMDEN IN ABOUT 30 MINUTES.
 
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER FROM THE WEATHER IN A
STRONG BUILDING.  DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN...
AND DEADLY LIGHTNING ARE ALL POSSIBLE IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.
STAY INSIDE AWAY FROM WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.

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

Local storm report, May 21, 9:32 AM CDT, 3 hours 10 minutes before
ATTN SELS
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
930 AM CDT MON MAY 21 1990

DELAYED STORM REPORT....

GEORGE COUNTY MISSISSIPPI CD REPORTED THAT AT 830 PM CDT SUNDAY
MAY 21ST AT THE CENTRAL :COMMUNITY 3 MILES WEST OF LUCEDALE...
TREES BLOWN DOWN...STORAGE BUILDING DESTROYED AND FENCE BLOWN DOWN.

REPORTED AS POSSIBLE TORNADO BUT LIKELY STRAIGHT LINE WINDS.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Mobile, AL issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 21, 12:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBCoosa64 min
May 21, 12:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBTallapoosa61 min
May 21, 1:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBMontgomery43 min
May 21, 2:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBLee61 min
May 21, 2:39 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBClarke, Washington51 min
May 21, 2:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBCovington62 min
May 21, 2:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBCoffee68 min
May 21, 3:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBPike69 min
May 21, 3:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBHenry59 min
May 21, 3:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBBarbour65 min
May 21, 4:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBEscambia30 min
May 21, 4:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBCoffee, Covington61 min
May 21, 5:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBGeneva, Houston63 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.