Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1992

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 47, NWS Birmingham, AL

April 20, 1992Blount County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 20, 1992, 12:41 PM CDT for Blount County, Alabama. It was in force for 54 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Apr 20, 1992, 12:41 PM CDT (17:41 UTC)
Expired
Apr 20, 1992, 1:35 PM CDT
In force
54 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Blount County, AL

The nearest sounding before it

Centreville/Bibb, AL (KCKL), launched 12:00Z, 5.7 hours before the alert went out and 134 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 1992-04-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 11 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 1992-04-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 185 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
11 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-209 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
650 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
185 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
259 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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, Apr 20, 8:42 AM CDT, 3 hours 59 minutes before
ALZ004>0009-013-201430-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
840 AM CDT MON APR 20 1992

  ...TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 158 IN EFFECT FOR A LARGE PART OF
     WEST CENTRAL AND SOU
Special weather statement, Apr 20, 9:22 AM CDT, 3 hours 19 minutes before
ALZ004>0009-013-201515-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
920 AM CDT MON APR 20 1992

  ...TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 158 IN EFFECT FOR A LARGE PART OF
     WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST ALABAMA UNTIL 200 PM CDT...

A WARM UNSTABLE AIRMASS WITH AN APPROACHING COLD FRONT ARE PROVIDING
THE RIGHT INGREDIENTS FOR STRONG THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP OVER ALABAMA
THIS MORNING AND AFTERNOON.  SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE ALREADY PRODUCED
WIND DAMAGE OVER PARTS OF SOUTH CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI EARLIER THIS
MORNING.  MORE STRONG...POSSIBLY SEVERE...THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED
TO MOVE INTO WEST AND SOUTHWEST ALABAMA THIS MORNING.

AT 920 AM THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING CLOSER TO THE ALABAMA
BORDER AND WERE MOVING THROUGH THE MERIDIAN MS AREA.  IT APPEARS THAT
THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE FIRST INTO LAMAR...PICKENS...
SUMTER AND CHOCTAW COUNTIES BETWEEN 930 AND 1030 AM. THESE THUNDERSTORMS
WILL PRODUCE STRONG...POSSIBLY DAMAGING WINDS...HEAVY RAIN...
LIGHTNING...AND POSSIBLY HAIL.  MONITOR NOAA WEATHER RADIO...
OR COMMERCIAL RADIO OR TELEVISION FOR FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS.
BE READY TO MOVE TO A SAFE PLACE IF THREATENING WEATHER IS
SIGHTED OR A WARNING IS ISSUED.
Special weather statement, Apr 20, 10:10 AM CDT, 2 hours 31 minutes before
ALZ010-011-012-014-017-018-201600-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MONTGOMERY AL
1000AM CDT MON APR 20 1992

...TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 158 REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 2PM CDT FOR PARTS
OF ALABAMA...

WEATHER RADAR AT MONTGOMERY SHOWED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO
WEST ALABAMA AT 10AM CDT. THE STORMS WERE MOVING TOWARD THE NORTHEAST
AT ABOUT 40 MPH. AT THE PRESENT RATE OF MOVEMENT STRONG STORMS WILL
BE ENTERING DALLAS AND WILCOX COUNTIES AROUND 11 TO 1130AM CDT.

PERSONS IN THE WATCH AREAS SHOULD REMAIN ON THE ALERT. WATCHES
MAY BE REQUIRED FOR OTHER SECTIONS OF SOUTH ALABAMA DURING THE DAY
AS THE POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE WEATHER IS HIGH. STAY TUNED TO LOCAL
RADIO AND TV OR NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION.
Local storm report, Apr 20, 11:09 AM CDT, 1 hour 32 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
1108 AM CDT MON APR 20 1992

1010 AM CDT...TREES WERE BLOWN DOWN IN SOUTHWESTERN PICKENS COUNTY.
              EXACT LOCATION NOT KNOWN.
1105 AM CDT...POWER LINES WERE BLOWN DOWN IN THE SOUTHERN PART
              OF THE CITY OF TUSCALOOSA.  POWER OUTAGES OCCURRED
              AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA.
Special weather statement, Apr 20, 11:15 AM CDT, 1 hour 26 minutes before
ALZ010-011-012-014-017-018-201730-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MONTGOMERY AL
1110AM CDT MON APR 20 1992

...TORNADO WATCH NUMBERS 158 AND 159 REMAIN IN EFFECT FOR PARTS OF
ALABAMA UNTIL 2 AND 4PM...

WEATHER RADAR AT MONTGOMERY SHOWED A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS AT
1110AM CDT EXTENDING FROM NEAR TUSCALOOSA SOUTHWARD TO DEMOPOLIS AND
LINDEN. THE LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WAS MOVING TOWARD THE EAST AT ABOUT
25 MPH AND WILL BE )ENTERING DALLAS AND WILCOX COUNTIES WITHIN THE HOUR.

PERSONS IN THE WATCH AREAS SHOULD REMAIN ON THE ALERT AS THE POTENTIAL
FOR SEVERE WEATHER REMAINS HIGH.

STAY TUNED TO LOCAL RADIO TV OR NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR THE LATEST
INFORMATION.
Local storm report, Apr 20, 12:06 PM CDT, 35 minutes before
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The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 20, 10:16 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXGreene44 min
Apr 20, 10:19 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPickens41 min
Apr 20, 10:23 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarengo67 min
Apr 20, 10:43 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXHale, Tuscaloosa62 min
Apr 20, 11:12 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXTuscaloosa48 min
Apr 20, 11:15 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFayette60 min
Apr 20, 11:29 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson, Walker61 min
Apr 20, 11:47 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCullman58 min
Apr 20, 11:51 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXWinston54 min
Apr 20, 12:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXShelby60 min
Apr 20, 12:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLawrence, Morgan64 min
Apr 20, 2:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCherokee32 min
Apr 20, 4:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXClay, Randolph68 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.