Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 128, NWS Birmingham, AL

March 31, 1998Pickens County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 31, 1998, 3:07 PM CST for Pickens County, Alabama. It was in force for 63 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Mar 31, 1998, 3:07 PM CST (21:07 UTC)
Expired
Mar 31, 1998, 4:10 PM CST
In force
63 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Pickens County, AL

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 9.1 hours before the alert went out and 122 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, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 1998-03-31Temperature 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, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 1998-03-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 281 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
723 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
48 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
281 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
375 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.

678 
WUUS1 KBHM 312108 RRA
SVRBHM
ALC107-312210-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
307 PM CST TUE MAR 31 1998


THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM AL HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 410 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA

   ...PICKENS COUNTY...

AT 307 PM CST... WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
A FEW MILES WEST OF ALICEVILLE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR.



<<CALL TO ACTION>>
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE... SEEK REFUGE FROM THE STORM IN A
STRONG BUILDING. BOATERS ON AREA LAKES SHOULD TAKE SHELTER.
DAMAGING WIND... LARGE HAIL... VERY HEAVY RAIN... AND DANGEROUS
LIGHTNING ARE ALL LIKELY. DO NOT SEEK SHELTER UNDER TREES OR OTHER
ISOLATED TALL OBJECTS. THESE ATTRACT LIGHTNING. DO NOT DRIVE INTO
AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.

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 31, 9:53 AM CST, 5 hours 14 minutes before
ALZ001>050-GAZ089-090-102-120-010345-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
FOR NORTH/CENTRAL AL AND WEST CENTRAL GA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
953 AM CST TUE MAR 31 1998

A COLD FRONT WILL APPROACH ALABAMA FROM THE WEST THIS AFTERNOON...AND
MOVE ACROSS MOST OF THE STATE TONIGHT.  A LINE OF SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS IS EXPECTED TO MOVE INTO THE WEST CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST
SECTIONS OF ALABAMA SHORTLY AFTER NOON TODAY...AND MOVE EASTWARD
ACROSS THE REMAINDER OF NORTHERN AND CENTRAL ALABAMA THROUGH THE
AFTERNOON AND EVENING HOURS.  THE THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD REACH WEST
CENTRAL GEORGIA DURING THE LATE EVENING OR OVERNIGHT HOURS.

THE AIRMASS OVER ALABAMA AND WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA IS EXPECTED TO REMAIN
ONLY MARGINALLY UNSTABLE TODAY...AND WIDESPREAD SEVERE WEATHER IS
UNLIKELY.  HOWEVER...A FEW OF THE THUNDERSTORMS MAY APPROACH SEVERE
LIMITS DURING THE PEAK HEATING OF THE AFTERNOON...WITH DAMAGING
STRAIGHT LINE WINDS AND LARGE HAIL BEING THE PRIMARY THREAT.  THE
THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO BE STRONGEST OVER THE NORTHERN THIRD OF
ALABAMA THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY THIS EVENING...WHERE THE UPPER
LEVEL WINDS AND ATMOSPHERIC INSTABILITY WILL BE MOST SUPPORTIVE.

STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL SHOULD REMAIN ALERT
FOR CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND MONITOR NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR
LOCAL TV AND RADIO FOR POSSIBLE WARNINGS LATER TODAY.  FOR THE
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR SOUTHWEST ALABAMA...SEE PRODUCT
BHMSPSMOB.  FOR SOUTHEAST ALABAMA...LOOK AT MIASPSTLH.

FOR MORE WEATHER INFORMATION VISIT OUR INTERNET SITE ON THE WORLD WIDE
WEB AT:  HTTP://WWW.ACESAG.AUBURN.EDU/DEPARTMENT/NWS/
Special weather statement, Mar 31, 9:53 AM CST, 5 hours 14 minutes before
ALZ001>050-GAZ089-090-102-120-010345-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
FOR NORTH/CENTRAL AL AND WEST CENTRAL GA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
953 AM CST TUE MAR 31 1998

A COLD FRONT WILL APPROACH ALABAMA FROM THE WEST THIS AFTERNOON...AND
MOVE ACROSS MOST OF THE STATE TONIGHT.  A LINE OF SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS IS EXPECTED TO MOVE INTO THE WEST CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST
SECTIONS OF ALABAMA SHORTLY AFTER NOON TODAY...AND MOVE EASTWARD
ACROSS THE REMAINDER OF NORTHERN AND CENTRAL ALABAMA THROUGH THE
AFTERNOON AND EVENING HOURS.  THE THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD REACH WEST
CENTRAL GEORGIA DURING THE LATE EVENING OR OVERNIGHT HOURS.

THE AIRMASS OVER ALABAMA AND WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA IS EXPECTED TO REMAIN
ONLY MARGINALLY UNSTABLE TODAY...AND WIDESPREAD SEVERE WEATHER IS
UNLIKELY.  HOWEVER...A FEW OF THE THUNDERSTORMS MAY APPROACH SEVERE
LIMITS DURING THE PEAK HEATING OF THE AFTERNOON...WITH DAMAGING
STRAIGHT LINE WINDS AND LARGE HAIL BEING THE PRIMARY THREAT.  THE
THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO BE STRONGEST OVER THE NORTHERN THIRD OF
ALABAMA THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY THIS EVENING...WHERE THE UPPER
LEVEL WINDS AND ATMOSPHERIC INSTABILITY WILL BE MOST SUPPORTIVE.

STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL SHOULD REMAIN ALERT
FOR CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND MONITOR NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR
LOCAL TV AND RADIO FOR POSSIBLE WARNINGS LATER TODAY.  FOR THE
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR SOUTHWEST ALABAMA...SEE PRODUCT
BHMSPSMOB.  FOR SOUTHEAST ALABAMA...LOOK AT MIASPSTLH.

FOR MORE WEATHER INFORMATION VISIT OUR INTERNET SITE ON THE WORLD WIDE
WEB AT:  HTTP://WWW.ACESAG.AUBURN.EDU/DEPARTMENT/NWS/

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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.