Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1991
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 95, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 5, 1991, 2:42 PM CDT for Calhoun County, Alabama. It was in force for 48 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
- May 5, 1991, 2:42 PM CDT (19:42 UTC)
- Expired
- May 5, 1991, 3:30 PM CDT
- In force
- 48 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Calhoun County, AL
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 5, 2:43 PM CDT | Hail 0.75 | Calhoun, 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 12:00Z, 7.7 hours before the alert went out and 160 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 538 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -96 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 846 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 37 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 157 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 162 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 1.2
The text
The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.
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, May 5, 12:35 PM CDT, 2 hours 7 minutes before
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
Special weather statement, May 5, 12:40 PM CDT, 2 hours 2 minutes before
ALZ004>009-051810- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 1239 PM CDT SUN MAY 05 1991 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH CANCELLED FOR THREE NORTHWEST ALABAMA COUNTIES... THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS CANCELLED THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR MARION...LAMAR AND FAYETTE COUNTIES IN NORTHWEST ALABAMA. THE LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS HAS MOVED SOUTHEAST OF THESE COUNTIES. A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 4 PM CDT...OR UNTIL CANCELLED...FOR COUNTIES TO THE EAST AND SOUTH OF THE CLEARED AREA.
Special weather statement, May 5, 1:02 PM CDT, 1 hour 40 minutes before
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
Special weather statement, May 5, 1:18 PM CDT, 1 hour 24 minutes before
TTAA00 KMGM0518188-009_010-013-014-052000- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MONTGOMERY AL 110 PM CDT SUN MAY 05 1991 ...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH CONTINUES IN EFFECT FOR DALLAS AND WILCOX COUNTIES UNTIL 4PM... RADAR SHOWER A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERTORMS MOVING INTO WEST ALABAMA AT 1PM. THE LINE EXTENDED FROM JUST NORTHEAST OF TUSCALOOSA TO THE MISSISSIPPI BORDER ABOUT 50 MILES SOUTH OF MERIDIAN AND WAS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 45 TO 50 MPH. THE MOST INTENSE STORMS WERE JUST MOVING INTO WEST ALABAMA. SOME OF THE STORMS WILL BE MOVING INTO DALLAS AND WILCOX COUNTIES BY 230 PM. PLEASE REMAIN ALERT AND READY TO GO TO A SAFE PLACE IF ONE OF THE STORMS APPROACHES. DEVAUGHN
Special weather statement, May 5, 1:25 PM CDT, 1 hour 17 minutes before
ALZ008-009-010-013-014-052000- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT COR NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MONTGOMERY AL 110 PM CDT SUN MAY 05 1991 ...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH CONTINUES IN EFFECT FOR DALLAS AND WILCOX COUNTIES UNTIL 4PM... RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERTORMS MOVING INTO WEST ALABAMA AT 1PM. THE LINE EXTENDED FROM JUST NORTHEAST OF TUSCALOOSA TO THE MISSISSIPPI BORDER ABOUT 50 MILES SOUTH OF MERIDIAN AND WAS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 45 TO 50 MPH. THE MOST INTENSE STORMS WERE JUST MOVING INTO WEST ALABAMA. SOME OF THE STORMS WILL BE MOVING INTO DALLAS AND WILCOX COUNTIES BY 230 PM. PLEASE REMAIN ALERT AND READY TO GO TO A SAFE PLACE IF ONE OF THE STORMS APPROACHES. DEVAUGHN
Special weather statement, May 5, 1:32 PM CDT, 1 hour 10 minutes before
ALZ004-005-006-007-008-009-051930- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 135 PM CDT SUN MAY 5 1991 NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR CONTINUED TO SHOW A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS GENERALLY IN A LINE STRETCHING FROM SOUTHERN CULLMAN COUNTY THROUGH JEFFERSON COUNTY...SOUTH AND WESTWARD INTO BIBB...PERRY... MARENGO AND CHOCTAW COUNTIES. THE STRONGEST STORMS WERE INDICATED IN JEFFERSON COUNTY APPROACHING THE BIRMINGHAM METROPOLITAN AREA...AND IN SOUTHERN HALE AND NORTHERN MARENGO COUNTIES SOUTH AND EAST OF DEMOPOLIS. THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING STRONG GUSTY WIND...HAIL... HEAVY RAIN...AND LIGHTNING. WITH THE ATMOSPHERE OVER ALABAMA RELATIVELY UNSTABLE...THUNDERSTORMS COULD POSSIBLY DEVELOP SEVERE WEATHER RAPIDLY FOR A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME. FOR THIS REASON...PEOPLE IN CENTRAL ALABAMA SHOULD REMAIN ALERT TO RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER AND BE PREPARED TO SEEK SHELTER IF THE WEATHER BECOMES UNUSALLY THREATENING.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 5, 5:01 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Colbert, Franklin | 59 min |
| May 5, 10:49 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lamar | 41 min |
| May 5, 1:31 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Jefferson | 29 min |
| May 5, 1:37 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Shelby | 53 min |
| May 5, 1:50 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Shelby | 25 min |
| May 5, 1:57 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Blount, St. Clair | 63 min |
| May 5, 2:03 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Talladega | 57 min |
| May 5, 2:08 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Chilton | 52 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.