Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1991

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 13, NWS Birmingham, AL

March 23, 1991Walker County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 23, 1991, 2:51 AM CST for Walker County, Alabama. It was in force for 39 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Mar 23, 1991, 2:51 AM CST (08:51 UTC)
Expired
Mar 23, 1991, 3:30 AM CST
In force
39 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Walker County, AL

The nearest sounding before it

Centreville/Bibb, AL (KCKL), launched 00:00Z, 8.9 hours before the alert went out and 101 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 00:00Z on 1991-03-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1360 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 00:00Z on 1991-03-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 238 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
1360 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-23 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
852 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
53 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
238 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
324 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
2.3
Supercell composite
7.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBHM 230854
SVRBHM
ALC127-230930-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
251 AM CST SAT MAR 23 1991
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  330 AM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTH ALABAMA
 
   ...WALKER COUNTY
 
AT 245 AM CST WEATHER RADAR DETECTED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM JUST ENTERING
WESTERN WALKER COUNTY. THIS STORM HAS A HISTORY OF PRODUCING DIME SIZED
HAIL. IT WILL BE MOVING THROUGH THE TOWN OF JASPER SHORTLY AFTER 3 AM.
 
 
A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THE WARNED AREA.  REMEMBER
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES
WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING.  REMAIN CALM BUT BE ALERT TO
RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS.
 
 
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, Mar 22, 10:06 PM CST, 4 hours 45 minutes before
ALZ004>009-011-230500-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
1005 PM CST FRI MAR 22 1991

...TORNADO WATCH CANCELLED FOR PART OF NORTH AND CENTRAL ALABAMA...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS CANCELLED THE TORNADO WATCH FOR THE
FOLLOWING ALABAMA COUNTIES...

LAMAR...FAYETTE...WALKER...PICKENS...TUSCALOOSA...JEFFERSON...SHELBY...
BLOUNT...SAINT-CLAIR...ETOWAH...CHEROKEE...CALHOUN AND TALLADEGA.

THE WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR COUNTIES TO THE NORTH OF THESE COUNTIES
...MAINLY THE TENNESSEE VALLEY...UNTIL 2 AM CST.
Special weather statement, Mar 22, 11:02 PM CST, 3 hours 49 minutes before
ALZ004>009-011-230800-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
1102 PM CST FRI MAR 22 1991

...TORNADO WATCH CANCELLED FOR NORTHERN ALABAMA...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS CANCELLED THE TORNADO WATCH FOR THE
FOLLOWING ALABAMA COUNTIES...

LAUDERDALE...COLBERT...FRANKLIN...LAWRENCE...LIMESTONE...MADISON...
MORGAN...JACKSON...MARSHALL...DE KALB...MARION...WINSTON...AND
CULLMAN.

THE AIRMASS OVER NORTHERN ALABAMA HAS BECOME MUCH MORE STABLE SINCE 10
PM RESULTING IN A RAPID DECREASE OF THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY.  FOR THIS
REASON...THE TORNADO WATCH HAS BEEN CANCELLED.
Special weather statement, Mar 23, 12:57 AM CST, 1 hour 54 minutes before
ALZ004>009-011-230900-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
1255 AM CST SAT MAR 23 1991

AT 1250 AM CENTERVILLE RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS FROM HUNTSVILLE SOUTHWEST ACROSS LAMAR COUNTY ALABAMA
TO JACKSON MISSISSIPPI.  THE STRONGEST STORMS WERE LOCATD IN CENTRAL  LAMAR AND
            NEAR BRILLIANT IN SOUTHEASTERN MARION COUNTY.  STRONG WIND...FREQUENT           LIGHTNING AND POSSIBLY SOME SMALL HAIL CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THESE
            STORMS AS THEY MOVE RAPIDLY NORTHEASTWARD.
Special weather statement, Mar 23, 1:01 AM CST, 1 hour 50 minutes before
ALZ004>009-011-230900-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
101 AM CST SAT MAR 23 1991

AT 1250 AM CENTERVILLE RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS FROM HUNTSVILLE SOUTHWEST ACROSS LAMAR COUNTY ALABAMA
TO JACKSON MISSISSIPPI.  THE STRONGEST STORMS WERE LOCATD IN CENTRAL
LAMAR AND NEAR BRILLIANT IN SOUTHEASTERN MARION COUNTY.  STRONG WIND...
FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND POSSIBLY SOME SMALL HAIL CAN BE EXPECTED WITH
THESE STORMS AS THEY MOVE RAPIDLY NORTHEASTWARD.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 22, 6:49 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXColbert, Lauderdale56 min
Mar 22, 8:41 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLawrence, Limestone64 min
Mar 22, 8:47 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarion28 min
Mar 23, 2:00 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLamar, Pickens45 min
Mar 23, 2:12 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFayette48 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Alabama, 1991Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1991

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.