Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1992

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 13, NWS Birmingham, AL

March 9, 1992Winston County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 9, 1992, 4:52 PM CST for Winston County, Alabama. It was in force for 28 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 9, 1992, 4:52 PM CST (22:52 UTC)
Expired
Mar 9, 1992, 5:20 PM CST
In force
28 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Winston County, AL

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Mar 9, 5:10 PM CSTHail 0.75Winston, 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, 10.9 hours before the alert went out and 140 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 1992-03-09Temperature 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, Centreville/Bibb, AL at 12:00Z on 1992-03-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 70 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1631 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
45 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
70 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
39 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 KBHM 092253
SVRBHM
ALC133-100000-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
452 PM CST MON MAR 9 1992
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  600 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTH ALABAMA
 
   ...WINSTON COUNTY
 
AT 450 PM CST A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM HAD DEVELOPED OVER WESTERN WINSTON
COUNTY NEAR NATURAL BRIDGE. THIS STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 TO 35
MPH. RADAR SHOWED AN INDICATION OF LARGE HAIL WITH THIS STORM.
THE STORM SHOULD MOVE THROUGH THE DOUBLE SPRINGS AREA.
 
 
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 9, 3:35 PM CST, 1 hour 17 minutes before
ALZALL-100000-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
330 PM CST MON MAR 9 1991

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE OVER ALABAMA TONIGHT AND TUESDAY...
   ...FOLLOWED BY MUCH COLDER WEATHER TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY...

A DEVELOPING LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM OVER TEXAS AND OKLAHOMA IS EXPECTED
TO SPREAD RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS ALABAMA TONIGHT AND TUESDAY.
MOISTURE HAS BEEN INCREASING ACROSS ALABAMA THIS AFTERNOON. BUT
TONIGHT AND TUESDAY THE AIR OVER THE STATE IS EXPECTED TO BECOME
SUFFICIENTLY MOIST AND UNSTABLE SUCH THAT SOME THUNDERSTORMS COULD
POSSIBLY BECOME SEVERE.  AT 320 PM THIS AFTERNOON...SCATTERED STRONG
THUNDERSTORMS...SOME SEVERE...HAD ALREADY MOVED INTO NORTHWEST ALABAMA.

THUNDERSTORMS WILL INCREASE AS THE WEATHER SYSTEM BECOMES BETTER
ORGANIZED TONIGHT AND TUESDAY AND MOVES EASTWARD INTO ALABAMA.  SO
THE POSSIBILITY FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP IS FORECAST IN
ALABAMA TONIGHT AND TUESDAY AND IN SOUTHEAST ALABAMA THROUGH TUESDAY
EVENING.

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECASTERS WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE
SITUATION VERY CLOSELY.  WE ADVISE THAT THAT YOU KEEP IN MIND THE
POSSIBILITY OF SEVERE WEATHER WHEN PLANNING YOUR ACTIVITIES
TONIGHT AND TUESDAY.

IN ADDITION TO THE THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER...A TURN TO MUCH
COLDER WEATHER IS EXPECTED TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY. TEMPERATURES
WILL FALL INTO THE 20S IN NORTH ALABAMA AND THE 30S IN SOUTH ALABAMA
BY WEDNESDAY MORNING.  COLDER AIR WILL CONTINUE TO POUR INTO THE STATE
WEDNESDAY AND BY THURSDAY MORNING FREEZING TEMPERATURES...MOSTLY IN
THE 20S AND LOWER 30S...WILL OCCUR OVER MUCH OF ALABAMA.  IT IS
TOO SOON TO SAY...BUT IT APPEARS AT THIS TIME THAT ONLY THE COASTAL
SECTIONS MAY ESCAPE THE FREEZING TEMPERATURES.

DUE TO THE RELATIVELY MILD TEMPERATURES THE PAST FEW WEEKS...MANY
TREES AND SHRUBS ARE IN BLOOM OR HAVE DEVELOPED BUDS EARLY.
CONSEQUENTLY...PROTECTION OF MUCH OF THIS TENDER GROWTH IN THESE
PLANTS FROMF THE FREEZING TEMPERATURES IS RECOMMENDED.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR LOCAL RADIO OR TELEVISION
STATION FOR THE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS WITH THIS WEATHER SYSTEM.
Special weather statement, Mar 9, 4:28 PM CST, 24 minutes before
ALZ001>014-100000-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
430 PM CST MON MAR 9 1991

...TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT FOR MUCH OF NORTH AND CENTRAL ALABAMA
   UNTIL 900 PM CST...

AT 430 PM CST SCATTERED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS HAD DEVELOPED OVER
NORTH AND WEST ALABAMA WELL AHEAD OF A FRONTAL SYSTEM MOVING TOWARD
THE STATE FROM THE WEST.  THE AIRMASS OVER ALABAMA WAS RAPIDLY
BECOMING UNSTABLE AND SOME THUNDERSTORMS COULD POSSIBLY PRODUCE
TORNADOES...DAMAGING WIND...AND LARGE HAIL OVER NORTH AND
CENTRAL ALABAMA THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.

WITH FURTHER DESTABILIZATION OF THE AIRMASS OVER ALABAMA...THE
POTENTIAL FOR MORE SEVERE WEATHER WILL REMAIN THROUGH EARLY TUESDAY.
COQNTINUE TO MONITOR THE VERY LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION AND BE READY
TO MOVE TO A SAFE PLACE SHOULD THREATENING WEATHER APPROACH OR
IF A WARNING IS ISSUED.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 9, 3:00 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXColbert, Lauderdale60 min
Mar 9, 3:44 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXColbert, Lauderdale61 min
Mar 9, 3:44 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFranklin61 min
Mar 9, 4:45 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXColbert, Lawrence43 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Alabama, 1992Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1992

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.