Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 227, NWS Birmingham, AL

April 14, 1998Shelby County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 14, 1998, 4:58 PM CDT for Shelby County, Alabama. It was in force for 47 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
Apr 14, 1998, 4:58 PM CDT (21:58 UTC)
Expired
Apr 14, 1998, 5:45 PM CDT
In force
47 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Shelby County, AL

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 14 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:59 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
Apr 14, 5:15 PM CDTHail 1.75Chelsea, ALGolf ball size hail was reported by an off duty weather service employee.

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, 10.0 hours before the alert went out and 14 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 1998-04-14Temperature 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 1998-04-14The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 251 square meters per square second.1939587897117136Sfc1 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
500 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
45 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
251 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
259 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.

000 
TTAA00 KBHM 142158 RRA
SVRBHM
ALC117-142245-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
458 PM CDT TUE APR 14 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM AL HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 545 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN CENTRAL ALABAMA

   ...SHELBY COUNTY...

AT 457 PM...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM LOCATED OVER THE GRAYSTONE AREA OF
SHELBY CONTINUED TO PRODUCE LARGE HAIL. THE STORM WAS MOVING
SOUTHEAST AT 20 MPH ALONG HIGHWAY 280.
COMMUNTIES IN THE PATH OF THE STORM WILL BE WESTOVER AND HARPERSVILLE.

<<CALL TO ACTION>>
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH...
DESTRUCTIVE HAILz... 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
Apr 14, 3:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXEtowah44 min
Apr 14, 3:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXElmore32 min
Apr 14, 3:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSumter61 min
Apr 14, 3:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMacon, Tallapoosa49 min
Apr 14, 3:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson48 min
Apr 14, 3:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXEtowah19 min
Apr 14, 4:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCalhoun50 min
Apr 14, 4:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXShelby45 min
Apr 14, 4:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMacon33 min
Apr 14, 5:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSumter46 min
Apr 14, 6:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBlount47 min
Apr 14, 6:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXEtowah62 min
Apr 14, 6:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTuscaloosa65 min
Apr 14, 6:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSt. Clair51 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.