Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 2, NWS Birmingham, AL

January 7, 1998Jefferson County, Shelby County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jan 7, 1998, 9:38 AM CST for Jefferson County, Shelby County, Alabama. It was in force for 62 min. 2 reports 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
Jan 7, 1998, 9:38 AM CST (15:38 UTC)
Expired
Jan 7, 1998, 10:40 AM CST
In force
62 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

Counties Jefferson County, AL, Shelby County, AL

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 26 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 15:37 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jan 7, 9:45 AM CSTThunderstorm Wind 50Hoover, AL
Jan 7, 9:45 AM CSTThunderstorm Wind 50Pelham, AL

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

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 3.6 hours before the alert went out and 25 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 1998-01-07Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 214 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, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 1998-01-07The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 257 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
214 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-9 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
576 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
62 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
257 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
363 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.3
Supercell composite
1.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

421 
WUUS1 KBHM 071540 RRA
SVRBHM
ALC073-117-071640-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
938 AM CST WED JAN 7 1998


THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM AL HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1040 AM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...

IN CENTRAL ALABAMA

   ...JEFFERSON COUNTY...
   ...NORTHERN SHELBY COUNTY...

AT 937 AM CST... WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WITH
WIND GUSTS TO NEAR 60 MPH.  HIGHER ELEVATIONS IN THE WARNED
COUNTIES WILL BE MOSTLY EFFECTED BY THE WIND GUST ASSOCIATED WITH
THESE STORMS.

<<CALL TO ACTION>>
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH...
DESTRUCTIVE HAIL... DEADLY LIGHTNING... AND VERY HEAVY RAIN. FOR
YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF
YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS. HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO DONT
DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 7, 7:11 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarengo59 min
Jan 7, 8:30 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXFayette, Greene, Hale, Pickens, Tuscaloosa3 hr
Jan 7, 8:30 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXMarengo, Sumter3 hr
Jan 7, 8:30 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXLamar, Marion3 hr
Jan 7, 8:55 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXCullman, Lawrence6 hr
Jan 7, 8:55 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXLimestone6 hr
Jan 7, 8:55 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXMadison6 hr
Jan 7, 8:55 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXJefferson6 hr
Jan 7, 8:55 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXColbert, Franklin6 hr
Jan 7, 8:55 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXLauderdale6 hr
Jan 7, 8:55 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXBlount, Walker6 hr
Jan 7, 8:55 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXAutauga, Bibb, Chilton, Dallas, Perry, Shelby6 hr
Jan 7, 8:55 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXMorgan, Winston6 hr
Jan 7, 8:55 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXLowndes6 hr
Jan 7, 10:10 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXAutauga, Lowndes50 min
Jan 7, 10:25 AM CSTTornado WarningBMXSt. Clair50 min
Jan 7, 10:37 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXClay, Cleburne, Randolph6 hr
Jan 7, 10:37 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXCalhoun, Cherokee, DeKalb, Etowah, Marshall, St. Clair6 hr
Jan 7, 10:37 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXTalladega6 hr
Jan 7, 10:37 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXJackson6 hr
Jan 7, 10:43 AM CSTTornado WarningBMXEtowah17 min
Jan 7, 10:53 AM CSTTornado WarningBMXMarshall47 min
Jan 7, 11:22 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXGreene, Hale, Marengo, Tuscaloosa4 hr
Jan 7, 11:22 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXPickens, Sumter4 hr
Jan 7, 11:22 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXFayette, Lamar, Marion4 hr
Jan 7, 11:36 AM CSTTornado WarningBMXJackson34 min
Jan 7, 12:13 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTallapoosa47 min
Jan 7, 12:25 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXBarbour, Lee, Macon, Russell2 hr
Jan 7, 12:25 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXChambers, Tallapoosa2 hr
Jan 7, 12:25 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXPike2 hr
Jan 7, 12:47 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBarbour48 min
Jan 7, 12:58 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXRussell47 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.