Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1990

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 180, NWS Mobile, AL

September 4, 1990Mobile County, Alabama

NWS Mobile, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Sep 4, 1990, 5:03 PM CDT for Mobile County, Alabama. It was in force for 42 min. 2 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
Sep 4, 1990, 5:03 PM CDT (22:03 UTC)
Expired
Sep 4, 1990, 5:45 PM CDT
In force
42 min
Issued by
NWS Mobile, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Mobile 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
Sep 4, 5:10 PM CDTHail 0.75Mobile, AL
Sep 4, 5:30 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 70Mobile, 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

Slidell Radar S, LA (KSIL), launched 12:00Z, 10.1 hours before the alert went out and 152 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, Slidell Radar S, LA at 12:00Z on 1990-09-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1207 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, Slidell Radar S, LA at 12:00Z on 1990-09-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 75 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
1207 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-92 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1245 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
17 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
75 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
80 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMOB 042205
SVRMOB
ALC097-042245-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
503 PM CDT TUE SEP 4 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  545 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTHWEST ALABAMA
 
   ...SOUTHERN MOBILE COUNTY
 
AT 500 PM...TWO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED IN SOUTHERN MOBILE
COUNTY. ONE WAS NEAR GRAND BAY AND THE OTHER WAS NEAR THEODORE. THE
STORMS WERE MOVING SOUTHWEST AT 20 MPH. THEY WERE LIKELY PRODUCING
HAIL AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS.
 
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, Sep 4, 3:28 PM CDT, 1 hour 35 minutes before
ALZ016-042200-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
325 PM CDT TUE SEP 4 1990

AT 325 PM A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED 3 MILES NORTHEAST OF ORANGE
BEACH. THIS THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING SOUTHWEST AT 20 MPH. IT WILL BE
MOVING OVER ORANGE BEACH AND GULF SHORES IN THE NEXT 1/2 HOUR.

ANOTHER STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED 5 MILES NORTHEAST OF BAY
MINETTE. IT WILL BE MOVING OVER BAY MINETTE IN THE NEAR 15 MINUTES.

THESE STORMS ARE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING STRONG GUSTY WINDS...DANGEROUS
LIGHTNING...HEAVY RAIN...AND POSSIBLY SOME SMALL HAIL.
Special weather statement, Sep 4, 3:37 PM CDT, 1 hour 26 minutes before
ALZ016-042200-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...CORRECTED TYPO IN SECOND PARAGRAPH
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
335 PM CDT TUE SEP 4 1990

AT 325 PM A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED 3 MILES NORTHEAST OF ORANGE
BEACH. THIS THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING SOUTHWEST AT 20 MPH. IT WILL BE
MOVING OVER ORANGE BEACH AND GULF SHORES IN THE NEXT 1/2 HOUR.

ANOTHER STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED 5 MILES NORTHEAST OF BAY
MINETTE. IT WILL BE MOVING OVER BAY MINETTE IN THE NEXT 15 MINUTES.

THESE STORMS ARE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING STRONG GUSTY WINDS...DANGEROUS
LIGHTNING...HEAVY RAIN...AND POSSIBLY SOME SMALL HAIL.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 4, 4:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBBaldwin37 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.