Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 229, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 14, 1998, 6:03 PM CDT for Blount 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, 6:03 PM CDT (23:03 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 14, 1998, 6:50 PM CDT
- In force
- 47 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Blount County, AL
The radar
The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 92 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:06 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 14, 6:18 PM CDT | Hail 1 | Blountsville, AL | Hail the size of quarters was reported near Blountsville. |
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, 11.1 hours before the alert went out and 91 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
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
168 WUUS1 KBHM 142303 SVRBHM ALC009-142350- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 603 PM CDT TUE APR 14 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM AL HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 650 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN NORTHERN ALABAMA ...NORTHERN BLOUNT COUNTY... AT 602 PM CDT... WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM JUST NORTH OF BLOUNTSVILLE. THIS STORM IS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 20 MILES PER HOUR. THE MAIN THREAT FROM THIS STORM WILL BE HAIL. <<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
Local storm report, Apr 14, 5:17 PM CDT, 46 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM
517 PM CDT TUE APR 14 1998
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0354 PM GADSDEN AL .5 INCH HAIL
04/14/98 ETOWAH
0403 PM FAIRFIELD AL 1.25 INCH HAIL
04/14/98 JEFFERSON
0404 PM BIRMINGHAM AL 1.75 INCH HAIL
04/14/98 JEFFERSON
0406 PM FRANKLIN AL .75 INCH HAIL
04/14/98 MACON
0410 PM ENSLEY AL 1 INCH HAIL
04/14/98 JEFFERSON
0420 PM BIRMINGHAM AL 1.75 INCH HAIL
04/14/98 JEFFERSON HAIL AT BEACON PARKWAY
0425 PM HOMEWOOD AL 1 INCH HAIL
04/14/98 JEFFERSON
0430 PM TUSKEGEE AL .75 INCH HAIL
04/14/98 MACON
0434 PM INVERNESS AL 1 INCH HAIL
04/14/98 SHELBY GRAYSTONE AREA ALONG
HIGHWAY 280 OF SHELBY
COUNTY
0436 PM INVERNESS AL .75 INCH HAIL
04/14/98 SHELBY DIME SIZE HAIL AT OLD
CALDWELL MILL ROADLocal storm report, Apr 14, 5:17 PM CDT, 46 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM
517 PM CDT TUE APR 14 1998
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0354 PM GADSDEN AL .5 INCH HAIL
04/14/98 ETOWAH
0403 PM FAIRFIELD AL 1.25 INCH HAIL
04/14/98 JEFFERSON
0404 PM BIRMINGHAM AL 1.75 INCH HAIL
04/14/98 JEFFERSON
0406 PM FRANKLIN AL .75 INCH HAIL
04/14/98 MACON
0410 PM ENSLEY AL 1 INCH HAIL
04/14/98 JEFFERSON
0420 PM BIRMINGHAM AL 1.75 INCH HAIL
04/14/98 JEFFERSON HAIL AT BEACON PARKWAY
0425 PM HOMEWOOD AL 1 INCH HAIL
04/14/98 JEFFERSON
0430 PM TUSKEGEE AL .75 INCH HAIL
04/14/98 MACON
0434 PM INVERNESS AL 1 INCH HAIL
04/14/98 SHELBY GRAYSTONE AREA ALONG
HIGHWAY 280 OF SHELBY
COUNTY
0436 PM INVERNESS AL .75 INCH HAIL
04/14/98 SHELBY DIME SIZE HAIL AT OLD
CALDWELL MILL ROADThe office that day
Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 14, 3:06 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Etowah | 44 min |
| Apr 14, 3:28 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Elmore | 32 min |
| Apr 14, 3:29 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Sumter | 61 min |
| Apr 14, 3:46 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Macon, Tallapoosa | 49 min |
| Apr 14, 3:47 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Jefferson | 48 min |
| Apr 14, 3:56 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Etowah | 19 min |
| Apr 14, 4:10 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Calhoun | 50 min |
| Apr 14, 4:15 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Shelby | 45 min |
| Apr 14, 4:32 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Macon | 33 min |
| Apr 14, 4:58 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Shelby | 47 min |
| Apr 14, 5:54 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Sumter | 46 min |
| Apr 14, 6:13 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Etowah | 62 min |
| Apr 14, 6:45 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Tuscaloosa | 65 min |
| Apr 14, 6:49 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | St. Clair | 51 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.