Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 127, NWS Birmingham, AL

March 20, 1998Lee County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 20, 1998, 2:55 AM CST for Lee County, Alabama. It was in force for 50 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 20, 1998, 2:55 AM CST (08:55 UTC)
Expired
Mar 20, 1998, 3:45 AM CST
In force
50 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Lee County, AL

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Mar 20, 2:59 AM CSTHail 0.75Marvyn, ALDime size hail was reported in the Marvin community.

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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Mar 19, 11:45 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 00:00Z, 8.9 hours before the alert went out and 117 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, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 00:00Z on 1998-03-20Temperature 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, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 00:00Z on 1998-03-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 59 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
973 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
59 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
175 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

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

Local storm report, Mar 19, 11:37 PM CST, 3 hours 18 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM
1137 PM CST THU MAR 19 1998

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

1039 PM    NEW HOPE                  AL   WIND DAMAGE
03/19/98   MADISON                        ROOF BLOWN OFF HOUSE..A
                                          COUPLE OF TRAILERS
                                          DESTROYED..AND HAIL OF
                                          UNKNOWN SIZE REPORTED BY
                                          EMA.

1058 PM    ARAB                      AL   .75 INCH HAIL
03/19/98   MARSHALL                       DIME SIZE HAIL REPORTED IN
                                          ARAB BY HAMS.

1107 PM    HUEYTOWN                  AL   .75 INCH HAIL
03/19/98   JEFFERSON                      DIME SIZE HAIL REPORTED IN
                                          HUEYTOWN BY HAMS.

1117 PM                              AL   WIND DAMAGE
03/19/98   JACKSON                        WIDESPREAD POWER OUTAGES
                                          FROM WOODVILLE TO
                                          SCOTTSBORO..DUE TO
                                          LIGHTNING STRIKES AND
                                          POWER LINES DOWN.

1136 PM    TRIMBLE                   AL   FLOODING
03/19/98   CULLMAN                        COUNTY ROAD 222 CLOSED DUE
                                          TO WATER COVERING THE
                                          ROAD.
Local storm report, Mar 19, 11:37 PM CST, 3 hours 18 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM
1137 PM CST THU MAR 19 1998

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

1039 PM    NEW HOPE                  AL   WIND DAMAGE
03/19/98   MADISON                        ROOF BLOWN OFF HOUSE..A
                                          COUPLE OF TRAILERS
                                          DESTROYED..AND HAIL OF
                                          UNKNOWN SIZE REPORTED BY
                                          EMA.

1058 PM    ARAB                      AL   .75 INCH HAIL
03/19/98   MARSHALL                       DIME SIZE HAIL REPORTED IN
                                          ARAB BY HAMS.

1107 PM    HUEYTOWN                  AL   .75 INCH HAIL
03/19/98   JEFFERSON                      DIME SIZE HAIL REPORTED IN
                                          HUEYTOWN BY HAMS.

1117 PM                              AL   WIND DAMAGE
03/19/98   JACKSON                        WIDESPREAD POWER OUTAGES
                                          FROM WOODVILLE TO
                                          SCOTTSBORO..DUE TO
                                          LIGHTNING STRIKES AND
                                          POWER LINES DOWN.

1136 PM    TRIMBLE                   AL   FLOODING
03/19/98   CULLMAN                        COUNTY ROAD 222 CLOSED DUE
                                          TO WATER COVERING THE
                                          ROAD.
Special weather statement, Mar 20, 1:15 AM CST, 1 hour 40 minutes before
ALZ008>010-017-018-024>027-033>035-040-200810-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
115 AM CST FRI MAR 20 1998

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 113 HAS BEEN CANCELLED FOR THE FOLLOWING
COUNTIES...

IN ALABAMA

   ...MARSHALL... JACKSON... DEKALB... BLOUNT... ETOWAH... JEFFERSON
   ...SHELBY... ST. CLAIR... TALLADEGA... PERRY... BIBB... CHILTON
   ...DALLAS

THE LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS HAS NOW MOVED EAST AND THE THREAT OF
SEVERE WEATHER HAS ENDED FOR THE THESE COUNTIES.  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
WATCH 113 CONTINUES OVER EXTREME EASTERN ALABAMA.
Local storm report, Mar 20, 1:30 AM CST, 1 hour 25 minutes before
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Local storm report, Mar 20, 1:30 AM CST, 1 hour 25 minutes before
<!doctype html>
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    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
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Special weather statement, Mar 20, 2:36 AM CST, 19 minutes before
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<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
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The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 19, 6:21 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFranklin49 min
Mar 19, 7:06 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLamar, Marion49 min
Mar 19, 7:18 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFranklin42 min
Mar 19, 7:48 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLawrence, Winston47 min
Mar 19, 7:56 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFranklin19 min
Mar 19, 8:02 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXColbert33 min
Mar 19, 8:14 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLamar51 min
Mar 19, 8:24 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLauderdale, Limestone, Morgan46 min
Mar 19, 8:32 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPickens48 min
Mar 19, 8:41 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFayette, Marion59 min
Mar 19, 8:42 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSumter48 min
Mar 19, 8:53 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMadison47 min
Mar 19, 9:04 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCullman, Winston46 min
Mar 19, 9:08 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXWalker42 min
Mar 19, 9:17 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPickens48 min
Mar 19, 9:45 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCullman45 min
Mar 19, 9:56 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTuscaloosa49 min
Mar 19, 9:58 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMorgan47 min
Mar 19, 10:14 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMadison, Marshall46 min
Mar 19, 10:15 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXWalker35 min
Mar 19, 10:22 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBlount48 min
Mar 19, 10:22 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson63 min
Mar 19, 10:30 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXHale45 min
Mar 19, 10:33 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJackson62 min
Mar 19, 10:38 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCullman22 min
Mar 19, 10:42 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTuscaloosa33 min
Mar 19, 10:45 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBibb, Perry65 min
Mar 19, 11:01 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarshall49 min
Mar 19, 11:12 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXEtowah, St. Clair58 min
Mar 19, 11:12 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXShelby58 min
Mar 19, 11:25 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson35 min
Mar 19, 11:27 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXDeKalb63 min
Mar 19, 11:33 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJackson32 min
Mar 19, 11:39 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXChilton, Dallas61 min
Mar 19, 11:55 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCalhoun, Cherokee60 min
Mar 19, 11:55 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTalladega60 min
Mar 20, 12:08 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXEtowah, St. Clair32 min
Mar 20, 12:08 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXShelby32 min
Mar 20, 12:16 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXAutauga, Lowndes79 min
Mar 20, 12:16 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCoosa79 min
Mar 20, 12:28 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXDeKalb47 min
Mar 20, 12:35 AM CSTTornado WarningBMXLowndes60 min
Mar 20, 12:39 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXClay61 min
Mar 20, 12:47 AM CSTTornado WarningBMXElmore, Montgomery63 min
Mar 20, 12:56 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCleburne64 min
Mar 20, 12:56 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTallapoosa64 min
Mar 20, 1:22 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXRandolph63 min
Mar 20, 1:38 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMacon62 min
Mar 20, 1:54 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXChambers, Lee61 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Alabama, 1998Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1998

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.