Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 236, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 16, 1998, 6:18 PM CDT for Colbert County, Lauderdale County, Alabama. It was in force for 47 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
- Apr 16, 1998, 6:18 PM CDT (23:18 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 16, 1998, 7:05 PM CDT
- In force
- 47 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Colbert County, AL, Lauderdale County, AL
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 16, 6:48 PM CDT | Hail 0.75 | Tuscumbia, AL | Dime size hail was reported south of Tuscumbia. |
| Apr 16, 6:53 PM CDT | Hail 0.75 | Muscle Shoals, AL | Dime size hail was reported in Muscle Shoals. |
| Apr 16, 7:05 PM CDT | Hail 0.75 | Tuscumbia, AL | Dime size hail was reported near CR 24 and CR 48. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 16, 4:00 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 12:00Z, 11.3 hours before the alert went out and 180 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
- 76 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -20 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 585 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 48 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 13 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 180 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- -0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
173 WUUS1 KBHM 162316 RRA SVRBHM ALC033-077-170005- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 618 PM CDT THU APR 16 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... COLBERT COUNTY... IN NORTHERN ALABAMA LAUDERDALE COUNTY... IN NORTHERN ALABAMA * UNTIL 705 PM CDT * AT 617 PM CDT... A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM PRODUCING LARGE HAIL WAS SHOWN...BY WEATHER RADAR OVER SOUTHWEST COLBERT COUNTY ALONG ROUTE 33. THE STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH. * THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE NEAR...TUSCUMBIA BY 630 AND NEAR FLORENCE BY 640 PM. GO INSIDE A STURDY BUILDING AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 16, 2:59 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Jackson | 51 min |
| Apr 16, 6:53 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Limestone | 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.