Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1991

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 21, NWS Birmingham, AL

March 29, 1991Hale County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 29, 1991, 3:30 AM CST for Hale County, Alabama. It was in force for 45 min. 1 report 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
Mar 29, 1991, 3:30 AM CST (09:30 UTC)
Expired
Mar 29, 1991, 4:15 AM CST
In force
45 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Hale County, AL

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Mar 29, 3:40 AM CSTHail 0.75Hale, 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 00:00Z, 9.5 hours before the alert went out and 43 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 1991-03-29Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 93 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 1991-03-29The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 243 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
93 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-97 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
748 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
65 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
243 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
369 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBHM 290932
SVRBHM
ALC065-291015-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
330 AM CST FRI MAR 29 1991
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  415 AM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTH ALABAMA
 
   ...HALE COUNTY
 
AT 325 AM CST WEATHER RADAR INDICTED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM NEAR CYPRESS
IN NORTHERN HALE COUNTY. THIS THUNDERSTORM HAS A HISTORY OF PRODUCING
LARGE HAIL AND WIND GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 50 MPH. THE STORM WAS MOVING
NORTHEAST AT 50 MPH.
 
 
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.

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 29, 12:59 AM CST, 2 hours 31 minutes before
ALZ004>008-011-290800-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
1259 AM CST FRI MAR 29 1991

...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA...

AT 1255 AM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR IN CENTREVILLE INDICATED
AN AREA OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WHICH WAS WEST OF A LINE THAT
EXTENDED FROM EAST OF HUNTSVILLE SOUTHWESTWARD TO HANCEVILLE IN CULLMAN
COUNTY TO JUST NORTHWEST OF TUSCALOOSA AND BACK INTO EAST CENTRAL
MISSISSIPPI.  THE THUNDERSTORMS AND RAIN WERE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST
AT 45 MPH.

STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI BETWEEEN THE CITIES
OF JACKSON AND MERIDIAN CONTINUE TO MOVE TO THE NORTHEAST RAPIDLY
AND WILL APPROACH WESTERN ALABAMA WITHIN THE NEXT COUPLE OF HOURS.

THIS IS A RAPIDLY DEVELOPING WEATHER SITUATION WHICH SHOULD BE MONITORED
CLOSELY...YOU SHOULD STAY INFORMED BY TUNING IN NOAA WEATHER RADIO AND
THE LOCAL MEDIA FOR LATER STATEMENTS.
Special weather statement, Mar 29, 2:31 AM CST, 59 minutes before
ALZ004>008-011-290930-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
230 AM CST FRI MAR 29 1991

...TORNADO WATCH UNTIL 9AM CST FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH AND CENTRAL ALABAMA...
...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA...

AT 225 AM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR IN CENTREVILLE INDICATED
A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING FROM NEAR SUMITON IN WALKER COUNTY
TO ALICEVILLE IN PICKENS COUNTY AND BACK INTO EAST CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI.
THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH. THESE THUNDERSTORMS
SHOULD MOVE INTO SUMTER...PICKENS....LAMAR...CULLMAN AND TUSCALOOSA COUNTIES
WITHIN THE NEXT HOUR.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING HEAVY RAIN...STRONG GUSTY
WINDS...SOME HAIL AND DEADLY LIGHTNING. THIS IS A RAPIDLY CHANGING
WEATHER SITUTION AND SHOULD BE CLOSELY MONITORED.  YOU ARE ADVISED
TO STAY INFORMED BY TUNING IN NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL MEDIA FOR
LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 29, 2:44 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXGreene61 min
Mar 29, 3:10 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTuscaloosa65 min
Mar 29, 3:55 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson50 min
Mar 29, 4:21 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXShelby54 min
Mar 29, 4:48 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCleburne27 min
Mar 29, 5:07 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTalladega53 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.