Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1991

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 52, NWS Mobile, AL

May 5, 1991Coosa County, Alabama

NWS Mobile, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 5, 1991, 2:22 PM CDT for Coosa County, Alabama. It was in force for 68 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, 2:22 PM CDT (19:22 UTC)
Expired
May 5, 1991, 3:30 PM CDT
In force
68 min
Issued by
NWS Mobile, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Coosa County, AL

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 5, 3:07 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 0Coosa, 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, 7.4 hours before the alert went out and 89 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 12:00Z on 1991-05-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 538 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 12:00Z on 1991-05-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 157 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
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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMGM 051924
SVRMGM
ALC001-037-052030-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MONTGOMERY AL
222 PM CDT SUN MAY 5 1991
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MONTGOMERY HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  330 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTH ALABAMA
 
   ...AUTAUGA COUNTY...COOSA COUNTY
 
RADAR SHOWS A STRONG LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS MOVING EAST THROUGH AUTUAGA
AND COOSA COUNTIES. STORMS IN THIS LINE HAVE PRODUCED GOLF BALL SIZE
HAIL.
 
 
 
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, May 5, 12:28 PM CDT, 1 hour 54 minutes before
ALZ013-MSZ014-013-051930-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
1227 PM CDT SUN MAY 5 1991

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL 400 PM FOR CLARKE COUNTY
IN SOUTHWEST ALABAMA...

NO SEVERE WEATHER HAS OCCURED IN SOUTHWEST ALABAMA OR SOUTHEAST
MISSISSIPPI THIS MORNING.

AT 12 NOON THE MOBILE RADAR SHOWED A LARGE AREA OF STRONG
THUNDERSTORMS OVER SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI NORTH AND WEST OF A LINE FROM
GULFPORT MISSISSIPPI TO STATELINE MISSISSIPPI.  THE STORMS WERE MOVING
TO THE NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

THESE STORMS WILL LIKELY PRODUCE STRONG GUSTY WINDS...DANGEROUS
LIGHTENING...HEAVY RAIN...AND POSSIBLE SMALL HAIL.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 5, 1:38 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBWashington52 min
May 5, 2:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBDallas65 min
May 5, 2:22 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBAutauga68 min
May 5, 2:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBElmore, Montgomery42 min
May 5, 3:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBMacon, Tallapoosa59 min
May 5, 3:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBBullock63 min
May 5, 3:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBLee63 min
May 5, 3:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBChambers62 min
May 5, 3:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBPike56 min
May 5, 4:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBCovington56 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.