Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1999

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 132, NWS Mobile, AL

May 26, 1999Covington County, Escambia County, Alabama

NWS Mobile, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 26, 1999, 5:15 PM CDT for Covington County, Escambia County, Alabama. It was in force for 45 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 26, 1999, 5:15 PM CDT (22:15 UTC)
Expired: May 26, 1999, 6:00 PM CDT
In force: 45 min
Issued by: NWS Mobile, AL
Area: Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

Counties Covington County, AL, Escambia County, AL

The radar

The Eglin Afb radar (KEVX), 109 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:19 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 26, 5:20 PM CDT	Hail 0.88	Bradley, AL	Nickel size hail was reported near Bradley.

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.

The nearest sounding before it

Eglin AFB/Valpar, FL (KVPS), launched 12:00Z, 10.3 hours before the alert went out and 84 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 705 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -14 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 949 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 11 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 11 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.7

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.

NWS Mobile, AL wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at May 26, 3:15 PM CDT, 2 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 26, 3:15 PM CDT, 2 hours before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
315 PM CDT WED MAY 26 1999

SCT TSTMS CONT ACRS MAINLY INTERIOR SECTIONS OF CWA THIS AFTN AS H5
SHORTWAVE MAKES ITS WAY OUT OF SRN MS.  SFC BNDRY RATHER ILL DEFINED
BUT STILL ANALYZED OVR CNTRL MS AND AL.  DWPTS JUST N OF BNDRY
RATHER HI DUE TO WK ADVECTION IN LLVLS BUT TRAIL OFF BETTER INTO THE
UPR 50S-LWR 60S ABT 80 NM N OF FNT.  WHILE MSTR CONVERGENCE ALG
IMMEDIATE BNDRY NOT IMPRESSIVE...DAYTIME HEATING IN MODERATELY
UNSTABLE AMS HAS LED TO DVLPMT OF NUMEROUS SCT STORMS OVER
INTERIOR.  SOME OF THESE HAVE HAD INDICATIONS OF DIME/NICKEL HAIL
LEADING TO A FEW SVR TSTM WARNINGS.  CAPES THIS AFTN RUNNING ABT
2200 J/KG OVER THE INTERIOR WITH WK 1.7C CAP LONG ERODED.

FCSTWISE...ETA/NGM IN FAIR AGREEMENT PUSHING THE SFC BNDRY SWD AND
STALLING IT ALG COASTAL SECTIONS THIS EVENING...THEN WASHING IT OUT
THU JUST OFFSHORE.  MODELS ARE NOT AS VIGOROUS WITH DEEP NWLY
925-700 MB FLOW AS THEY WERE IN PREV RUN...SUPPORTING BNDRY NOT
MAKING IT FAR INTO NRN GLF.  MID/UPR SUPPORT NOT OVERLY IMPRESSIVE
WITH MAIN ENERGY TRACKING FURTHER N FM AR INTO TN.  EXPECT A PORTION
OF CURRENT ACTIVITY TO DIE OFF AFTER SUNSET...AND WILL ADVERTISE SCT
POPS IN FIRST PD (MAINLY FOR EVENING).  FOR TOMORROW...DEEP LAYERED
DRYING MAY NOT BE AS PRONOUNCED AS EARLIER MODELS RUNS SUGGESTED.
WILL TREND DWPT VALUES UP A NOTCH AND THIS WILL HAVE A MODEST EFFECT
ON TEMP FCST.

WHILE MAIN SLUG OF UPPER ENERGY TRACKS FURTHER N CLOSER TO STRONGER
MIDLVL FLOW...SRN STREAM ENERGY RATHER WK WITH CUTOFF MIDLVL CIRCLN
OVER ERN TX EXPECTED TO REMAIN A PROBLEM THRU 48 HRS.  THIS PRESENTS
A BIT OF A FCST CHALLENGE FOR US SINCE MID/UPR RIDGING JUST TO THE W
PROGGED TO BE WK AND ANYTHING THAT GETS KICKED OUT OF TX MAY HELP
GEN UP SPOTTY SHRA OVER OUR KNECK OF THE WOODS THRU FRI (SMALL POPS).

OVER THE COASTAL WATERS...SWLY FLOW 10-15 KT THIS AFTN WL GO MORE
WLY-NWLY THIS EVENING AS BNDRY SETTLES IN.  NELY FLOW EARLY TOMORROW
TO GO MORE SWLY IN AFTN DUE TO WLY COMPONENT OF 850 MB WINDS.  SCT
TSTMS THIS EVENING DIMINISHING BY EARLY TOMORROW.

MOB 65/85/62/86 5211  PNS 67/85/64/86 5211
DTS 67/84/65/85 5420  GZH 61/84/57/87 4111 05

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 26, 3:16 PM CDT, 1 hour 59 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
316 PM CDT WED MAY 26 1999

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0230 PM    FLORALA                   AL   WIND DAMAGE
05/26/99   COVINGTON                      HIGH WINDS DAMAGED
                                          SKIRTING ON MOBILE HOMES.

Local storm report, May 26, 4:00 PM CDT, 1 hour 15 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
400 PM CDT WED MAY 26 1999

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

210 PM     GRAND BAY                 AL   PARTIALLY CONSTRUCTED
05/28/99   MOBILE                         ROOF TAKEN OFF WATER SERVICE
                                          BUILDING.  SEVERAL TREES
                                          ALSO DOWNED ALONG HIGHWAY
                                          188 SOUTHEAST OF TOWN.
                                          REPORTED BY SHERIFF DEPUTIES.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 26, 12:35 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Mobile	40 min
May 26, 1:14 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Choctaw	76 min
May 26, 1:35 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Escambia	40 min
May 26, 2:14 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Covington	61 min
May 26, 6:42 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Mobile	33 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Alabama, 1999 Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1999

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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.