Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1999

Tornado Warning 37, NWS Mobile, AL

May 31, 1999Baldwin County, Alabama

NWS Mobile, AL issued this tornado warning at May 31, 1999, 3:27 PM CDT for Baldwin County, Alabama. It was in force for 63 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline the Iowa Environmental Mesonet reconstructed for it; the warning itself named whole counties, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: May 31, 1999, 3:27 PM CDT (20:27 UTC)
Expired: May 31, 1999, 4:30 PM CDT
In force: 63 min
Issued by: NWS Mobile, AL
Area: Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

County Baldwin County, AL

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 31, 3:42 PM CDT	Tornado F0	Gulf Shrs, AL	A waterspout moved over the marshlands between Little Lagoon and Oyster Bay. The storm dissipated over the marshlands and no damage was found. No injuries were reported.

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

Slidell Radar S, LA (KSIL), launched 12:00Z, 8.5 hours before the alert went out and 201 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: 591 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -35 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 623 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 6 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -5 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 19 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.

999 
WFUS1 KMOB 312029 RRA
TORMOB
ALC003-312130-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
327 PM CDT MON MAY 31 1999

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHERN BALDWIN COUNTY IN ALABAMA

* UNTIL 430 PM CDT

* AT 325 PM CDT...LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS REPORTED 6 LARGE
  WATERSPOUTS JUST OFFSHORE FROM FORT MORGAN TO ORANGE BEACH THAT
  WERE MOVING SLOWLY NORTHWARD NEAR 5 MPH.  THIS IS AN EXTENSION OF
  THE TORNADO WARNING PREVIOUSLY IN EFFECT FOR SOUTHERN BALDWIN
  COUNTY.

THESE WATERSPOUTS WILL MOVE SLOWLY ONSHORE AND AFFECT THE 
COMMUNITIES OF FORT MORGAN...GASQUE...GULF SHORES AND ORANGE BEACH.

THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A
WORKBENCH OR OTHER PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS
AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF THE BUILDING IN AN
INTERIOR HALLWAY OR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET. USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO
COVER YOUR BODY AND ALWAYS STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

IF IN MOBILE HOMES OR VEHICLES...EVACUATE THEM AND GET INSIDE A
SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...LIE FLAT IN THE
NEAREST DITCH OR OTHER LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

LAT...LON 3044 8743 3006 8743 3006 8787 3044 8787

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 31, 2:51 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MOB	Baldwin	39 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Alabama, 1999 Every tornado warning in 1999 Tornadoes 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.