Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 22, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Feb 17, 1998, 4:44 AM CST for Randolph County, Alabama. It was in force for 51 min. 3 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
- Feb 17, 1998, 4:44 AM CST (10:44 UTC)
- Expired
- Feb 17, 1998, 5:35 AM CST
- In force
- 51 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Randolph County, AL
The radar
The Atlanta radar (KFFC), 83 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 10:46 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 17, 4:58 AM CST | Hail 0.75 | Wedowee, AL | Dime size hail was reported along State Highway 48, just west of Wedowee. |
| Feb 17, 5:13 AM CST | Hail 0.75 | Wedowee, AL | Dime size hail was reported in Wedowee. |
| Feb 17, 5:25 AM CST | Hail 0.75 | Graham, AL | Dime size hail was reported in Graham. |
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.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 17, 2:00 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 00:00Z, 10.7 hours before the alert went out and 89 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 2 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 468 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 54 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 334 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 408 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.1
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
451 WUUS1 KBHM 171047 RRA SVRBHM ALC111-171135- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 444 AM CST TUE FEB 17 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM AL HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 535 AM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN EAST CENTRAL ALABAMA ...RANDOLPH COUNTY... AT 443 AM CST... WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM NEAR LINEVILLE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH. LARGE HAIL AND HIGH WINDS ARE LIKELY WITH THIS STORM. <<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, Feb 17, 4:00 AM CST, 44 minutes before
ALZ030>033-039-040-049-050-171100- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 400 AM CST TUE FEB 17 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS CANCELLED THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES: SUMTER...GREENE...HALE...PERRY MARENGO...DALLAS..PIKE AND BARBOUR.
Special weather statement, Feb 17, 4:00 AM CST, 44 minutes before
ALZ030>033-039-040-049-050-171100- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 400 AM CST TUE FEB 17 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS CANCELLED THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES: SUMTER...GREENE...HALE...PERRY MARENGO...DALLAS..PIKE AND BARBOUR.
Special weather statement, Feb 17, 4:35 AM CST, 9 minutes before
ALZ022>025-034-035-041-042-171130- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 435 AM CST TUE FEB 17 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS CANCELLED THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOvR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES:PICKENS...TUSCALOOSA...BIBB...CHILTON ...JEFFERSON...SHELBY...AUTAUGA...AND LOWNDES.
Special weather statement, Feb 17, 4:35 AM CST, 9 minutes before
ALZ022>025-034-035-041-042-171130- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 435 AM CST TUE FEB 17 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS CANCELLED THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOvR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES:PICKENS...TUSCALOOSA...BIBB...CHILTON ...JEFFERSON...SHELBY...AUTAUGA...AND LOWNDES.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 17, 12:48 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Dallas | 47 min |
| Feb 17, 1:13 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Chilton | 47 min |
| Feb 17, 1:19 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Autauga | 46 min |
| Feb 17, 1:45 AM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Autauga | 50 min |
| Feb 17, 1:49 AM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Chilton | 56 min |
| Feb 17, 2:18 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Shelby | 47 min |
| Feb 17, 2:22 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Coosa, Talladega | 63 min |
| Feb 17, 2:31 AM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Coosa, Talladega | 64 min |
| Feb 17, 2:37 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Chilton | 18 min |
| Feb 17, 3:12 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Chilton | 48 min |
| Feb 17, 3:36 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Calhoun | 64 min |
| Feb 17, 3:44 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Autauga, Lowndes | 46 min |
| Feb 17, 3:54 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Coosa | 46 min |
| Feb 17, 4:03 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Tallapoosa | 47 min |
| Feb 17, 4:19 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Clay | 51 min |
| Feb 17, 4:37 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Cleburne | 63 min |
| Feb 17, 5:04 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Tallapoosa | 46 min |
| Feb 17, 5:25 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Chambers | 50 min |
| Feb 17, 6:14 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Chambers | 31 min |
| Feb 17, 4:08 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Calhoun, Cleburne | 62 min |
| Feb 17, 4:08 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Clay, Randolph | 62 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.