Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1990

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 191, NWS Mobile, AL

December 18, 1990Mobile County, Alabama

NWS Mobile, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Dec 18, 1990, 2:28 PM CST for Mobile County, Alabama. It was in force for 62 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Dec 18, 1990, 2:28 PM CST (20:28 UTC)
Expired
Dec 18, 1990, 3:30 PM CST
In force
62 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Slidell Radar S, LA (KSIL), launched 12:00Z, 8.5 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 1990-12-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 97 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 1990-12-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 39 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
97 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-40 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
593 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
51 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
39 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
118 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMOB 182030
SVRMOB
ALC097-182130-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
228 PM CST TUE DEC 18 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  330 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTHWEST ALABAMA
 
   ...MOBILE COUNTY
 
 
 
 
AT 124 PM CDT RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS FROM NEAR
PASCAGOULA MISSISSIPPI TO CALVERT ALABAMA...MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT
NEAR 40 MPH. WIND GUSTS TO 43 MPH WERE RECORDED AT BATES FIELD AT 122
PM.
 
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.  MOTORISTS 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, Dec 18, 11:23 AM CST, 3 hours 5 minutes before
MSZ014-013-181900-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
1120 AM CST TUE DEC 18 1990

...COLD FRONT WITH STRONG GUSTY WIND APPROACHING SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI...

AT 1115 AM CST RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF RAINSHOWERS FROM EAST OF
MERIDIAN TO LAUREL MISSISSIPPI TO JUST WEST OF NEW ORLEANS.  THIS
LINE IS ASSOCIATED WITH A COLD FRONT THAT IS MOVING TO THE SOUTHEAST
AT NEAR 25 MPH.

STRONG GUSTY WINDS HAVE BEEN REPORTED WITH THIS FRONT. MERIDIAM
MISSISSIPPI RECORDED WIND GUSTS TO 68 MPH WITH THIS FRONTAL PASSAGE.

PERSONS IN SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI SHOULD BE ALERT FOR POSSIBLE DAMAGING
WINDS DURING THE NEXT FEW HOURS AS THIS FRONT MOVES THROUGH.
Special weather statement, Dec 18, 1:46 PM CST, 42 minutes before
ALZ013-015-016MSZ014-013-182030-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
145 PM CST TUE DEC 18 1990

...COLD FRONT WITH STRONG GUSTY WINDS MOVING INTO EXTREME SOUTHEAST
   MISSISSIPPI AND SOUTHWEST ALABAMA...

AT 130 PM CST RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS FROM
NEAR THOMASVILLE ALABAMA TO CITRONELLE TO BILOXI MISSISSIPPI AND
SOUTHWEST INTO THE LOUISIANA COASTAL AREA.  THIS LINE IS LOCATED
NEAR A COLD FRONT MOVING TO THE SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

STRONG GUSTY WINDS HAVE BEEN REPORTED WITH THIS FRONT.  PERSONS EAST
OF THE FRONT SHOULD BE ALERT FOR SHIFTING STRONG GUSTY WINDS AS THE
FRONT PASSES.  CURRENT MOVEMENT WILL BRING THE FRONT TO A MONROEVILLE
TO MOBILE ALABAMA LINE WITHIN 2 HOURS.

MARINE INTEREST IN THE MISSISSIPPI COASTAL WATERS CAN EXPECT STRONG
GUSTY WINDS AND ROUGH SEAS WITH THIS SYSTEM AS IT MOVES THROUGH.
Special weather statement, Dec 18, 1:47 PM CST, 41 minutes before
ALZ013-015-016MSZ014-013-182145-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
145 PM CST TUE DEC 18 1990

...COLD FRONT WITH STRONG GUSTY WINDS MOVING INTO EXTREME SOUTHEAST
   MISSISSIPPI AND SOUTHWEST ALABAMA...

AT 140 PM CST RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS FROM
NEAR THOMASVILLE ALABAMA TO CITRONELLE TO BILOXI MISSISSIPPI AND
SOUTHWEST INTO THE LOUISIANA COASTAL AREA.  THIS LINE IS LOCATED
NEAR A COLD FRONT MOVING TO THE SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

STRONG GUSTY WINDS HAVE BEEN REPORTED WITH THIS FRONT.  PERSONS EAST
OF THE FRONT SHOULD BE ALERT FOR SHIFTING STRONG GUSTY WINDS AS THE
FRONT PASSES.  CURRENT MOVEMENT WILL BRING THE FRONT TO A MONROEVILLE
TO MOBILE ALABAMA LINE WITHIN 2 HOURS.

MARINE INTEREST IN THE MISSISSIPPI COASTAL WATERS CAN EXPECT STRONG
GUSTY WINDS AND ROUGH SEAS WITH THIS SYSTEM AS IT MOVES THROUGH.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Dec 18, 3:10 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBBaldwin65 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.