Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 231, NWS Birmingham, AL

April 14, 1998Tuscaloosa County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 14, 1998, 6:45 PM CDT for Tuscaloosa County, Alabama. It was in force for 65 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
Apr 14, 1998, 6:45 PM CDT (23:45 UTC)
Expired
Apr 14, 1998, 7:50 PM CDT
In force
65 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Tuscaloosa County, AL

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 71 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:47 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 11.8 hours before the alert went out and 70 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.

369 
WUUS1 KBHM 142345
SVRBHM
ALC125-150050-

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


THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM AL HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 750 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA

   ...TUSCALOOSA COUNTY...

AT 643 PM CDT... WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER
WESTERN TUSCALOOSA COUNTY NEAR ELROD.  THIS STORM WAS MOVING EAST AT
20 MILES PER HOURS.  THE MAIN THREAT FROM THIS STORM WILL BE FROM 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, 1 hour 28 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 ROAD
Local storm report, Apr 14, 5:17 PM CDT, 1 hour 28 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 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, 4:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXShelby47 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, 6:49 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.