Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1990

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 192, NWS Mobile, AL

December 18, 1990Baldwin County, Alabama

NWS Mobile, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Dec 18, 1990, 3:10 PM CST for Baldwin County, Alabama. It was in force for 65 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Dec 18, 1990, 3:10 PM CST (21:10 UTC)
Expired
Dec 18, 1990, 4:15 PM CST
In force
65 min
Issued by
NWS Mobile, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Baldwin 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

Eglin AFB/Valpar, FL (KVPS), launched 12:00Z, 9.2 hours before the alert went out and 121 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, Eglin AFB/Valpar, FL at 12:00Z on 1990-12-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 136 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, Eglin AFB/Valpar, FL at 12:00Z on 1990-12-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 165 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
136 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
548 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
52 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
165 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
219 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
0.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMOB 182111
SVRMOB
ALC003-182215-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND SPECIAL MARINE WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
310 PM CST TUE DEC 18 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND SPECIAL MARINE WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL  415 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTHWEST ALABAMA
 
   ...BALDWIN COUNTY
AT 305 PM CST RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS FROM 15
MILES NORTHEAST OF BAY MINETTE ALABAMA SOUTHWEST ALONG THE WESTERN
SHORE OF MOBILE BAY INTO THE ALABAMA COASTAL WATERS. THUNDERSTORMS
IN THIS LINE ARE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT NEAR 40 MPH...WHILE THE
LINE MOVES TO THE SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH.
 
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, Dec 18, 11:23 AM CST, 3 hours 47 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, 1 hour 24 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, 1 hour 23 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, 2:28 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBMobile62 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.