Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1991

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Birmingham, AL

March 27, 1991Limestone County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Mar 27, 1991, 7:35 PM CST for Limestone County, Alabama. It was in force for 20 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Mar 27, 1991, 7:35 PM CST (01:35 UTC)
Expired
Mar 27, 1991, 7:55 PM CST
In force
20 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Limestone County, AL

The nearest sounding before it

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 00:00Z, 1.6 hours before the alert went out and 151 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 00:00Z on 1991-03-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 00:00Z on 1991-03-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -44 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1079 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
70 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-44 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
114 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KHSV 280136
TORHSV
ALC083-089-280230-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
735 PM CST WED MAR 27 1991
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HUNTSVILLE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  830 PM CST
 
 
IN NORTH ALABAMA
 
   ...LIMESTONE COUNTY...MADISON COUNTY
 
AT 733 PM CST HUNTSVILLE RADAR SHOWED THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLY
CONTAINING TORNADOES IN LIMESTONE MOVING TOWARDS MADISON COUNTY
ALABAMA.
 
THIS WARNING REPLACES ALL OTHER WARNING ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER
SERVICE IN HUNTSVILLE.
 
 
 
DO NOT USE YOUR CAR TO TRY TO OUTRUN A TORNADO.  CARS ARE EASILY
TOSSED AROUND BY TORNADO WINDS.  IF YOU ARE CAUGHT IN THE PATH OF
A TORNADO...LEAV[E THE CAR AND GO TO A STRONG BUILDING.  IF NO
STRUCTURE IS NEARBY...SEEK SHELTER IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado 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 27, 7:14 PM CST, 21 minutes before
ALZ004>006-008-280230-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
712 PM CST WED MAR 27 1991

...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO WEST ALABAMA...

A 7:09 PM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR IN CENTREVILLE INDICATED A
LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WHICH EXTENDED FROM NEAR HUNTSVILLE TO NEAR
HAMILTON IN MARION COUNTY AND BACK INTO EAST CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI.
THE STRONGEST STORM AT THIS TIME WAS JUST WEST OF LAMAR COUNTY AND WILL
MOVE INTO LAMAR...MARION...FAYETTE AND WINSTON COUNTIES BEFORE 8PM CST.
THESE STORMS ARE CAPABALE OF PRODUCING STRONG GUSTY WINDS...HAIL...
DEADLY LIGHTNING AND EXTREMELY HEAVY RAIN.  THESE STORMS ARE MOVING TO
THE NORTHEAST AT 50 MPH.

CONTINUE TO MO6NITOR NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR COMMERCIAL RADIO OR TV
FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WATCHES OR WARNINGS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 27, 6:25 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXColbert, Lauderdale22 min
Mar 27, 6:47 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFranklin15 min
Mar 27, 6:47 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXColbert, Lauderdale, Limestone58 min
Mar 27, 7:02 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLawrence58 min
Mar 27, 7:16 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXLimestone19 min
Mar 27, 7:35 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXMadison41 min
Mar 27, 8:16 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJackson59 min
Mar 27, 8:50 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCullman25 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Alabama, 1991Every tornado warning in 1991Tornadoes 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.