Alert archive / Georgia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 249, NWS Birmingham, AL

April 17, 1998Chattahoochee County, Georgia

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 17, 1998, 4:18 PM EDT for Chattahoochee County, Georgia. It was in force for 47 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 17, 1998, 4:18 PM EDT (20:18 UTC)
Expired
Apr 17, 1998, 5:05 PM EDT
In force
47 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Chattahoochee County, GA

The radar

The Maxwell AFB radar (KMXX), 96 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:21 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

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 12:00Z, 8.3 hours before the alert went out and 117 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, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 12:00Z on 1998-04-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1255 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 12:00Z on 1998-04-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 165 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
1255 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
526 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
54 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
165 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
227 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.8
Supercell composite
6.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

648 
WUUS1 KBHM 172019 RRA
SVRBHM
GAC053-172105-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
318 PM CDT FRI APR 17 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  CHATTAHOOCHEE COUNTY... IN WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA

* UNTIL 505 PM EDT (405 PM CDT)

* AT 416 PM EDT... A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS SHOWN...BY WEATHER RADAR
MOVING INTO THE WESTERN PORTION OF CHATTAHOOCHEE COUNTY.  THIS STORM
IS MOVING EAST AT 25 MILES PER HOUR.  THIS WILL AFFECT THE TOWN OF
CUSSETTA BY 435 PM EDT.  THE MAIN THREAT FROM THIS STORM WILL BE HAIL.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM STAY INDOORS AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

THIS THUNDERSTORM IS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING EXTREMELY LARGE HAIL
WHICH MAY CAUSE SEVERE DAMAGE TO PROPERTY AND SERIOUS INJURY TO
PEOPLE AND LIVESTOCK. DAMAGING WINDS AND TORRENTIAL RAIN ARE ALSO
LIKELY WITH THIS STORM. MOVE TO A STURDY BUILDING AND STAY AWAY
FROM WINDOWS.

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, Apr 17, 11:30 AM EDT, 4 hours 48 minutes before
ALZ001>050-GAZ089-090-102-120-172300-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
FOR NORTH/CENTRAL AL AND WEST CENTRAL GA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
1030 AM CDT FRI APR 17 1998

A COLD FRONT FROM MOBILE TO MONTGOMERY WILL CONTINUE TO SLIDE SLOWLY
SOUTHEASTWARD TODAY.  COOLER AND STABLE AIR BEHIND THE FRONT WILL
INHIBIT ANY STRONG THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT TODAY.  A FEW
THUNDERSTORMS MAY DEVELOP ALONG THE FRONT THIS AFTERNOON...GENERALLY
SOUTH OF THE MONTGOMERY AND AUBURN AREAS.   A RAIN EVENT IS SHAPING
UP FOR THE AREA TONIGHT AND SATURDAY AS MOISTURE BEGINS TO RIDE OVER
THE FRONT.  SOME AREAS COULD HAVE SOME SIGNIFICANT RAINFALL THIS
WEEKEND.
Special weather statement, Apr 17, 11:30 AM EDT, 4 hours 48 minutes before
ALZ001>050-GAZ089-090-102-120-172300-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
FOR NORTH/CENTRAL AL AND WEST CENTRAL GA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
1030 AM CDT FRI APR 17 1998

A COLD FRONT FROM MOBILE TO MONTGOMERY WILL CONTINUE TO SLIDE SLOWLY
SOUTHEASTWARD TODAY.  COOLER AND STABLE AIR BEHIND THE FRONT WILL
INHIBIT ANY STRONG THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT TODAY.  A FEW
THUNDERSTORMS MAY DEVELOP ALONG THE FRONT THIS AFTERNOON...GENERALLY
SOUTH OF THE MONTGOMERY AND AUBURN AREAS.   A RAIN EVENT IS SHAPING
UP FOR THE AREA TONIGHT AND SATURDAY AS MOISTURE BEGINS TO RIDE OVER
THE FRONT.  SOME AREAS COULD HAVE SOME SIGNIFICANT RAINFALL THIS
WEEKEND.
Special weather statement, Apr 17, 4:00 PM EDT, 18 minutes before
ALZ001>064-FLZ001>015-172300-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
300 PM CDT FRI APR 17 1998

...SEVERE WEATHER TO AFFECT THE GULF COAST STATES THIS WEEKEND...

...HEAVY RAINFALL POSSIBLE ACROSS NORTH ALABAMA SATURDAY AND SATURDAY
NIGHT...

A COOL FRONT ACROSS SOUTH ALABAMA IS EXPECTED TO MOVE BACK NORTHWARD
ON SATURDAY AS A SURFACE LOW DEVELOPS NEAR THE ALABAMA AND MISSISSIPPI
BORDER.  SOUTHERLY WINDS WILL INCREASE AS THE WARM FRONT ADVANCES
NORTHWARD...BRINGING MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIR RAPIDLY BACK INTO THE
REGION. THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS OUTLOOKED ALL OF ALABAMA AND
NORTHWEST FLORIDA FOR A MODERATE RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS FOR
SATURDAY THROUGH SUNDAY MORNING.  STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL
DEVELOP OVER SOUTHERN ALABAMA AND NORTHWEST FLORIDA DURING THE LATE
MORNING AND EARLY AFTERNOON HOURS.  THE STORMS WILL THEN SPREAD
INTO NORTH ALABAMA AND WEST-CENTRAL GEORGIA DURING THE AFTERNOON AND
EVENING HOURS.

FURTHER NORTH...ACROSS THE TENNESSEE VALLEY REGION...HEAVY RAINFALL IS
POSSIBLE SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND NIGHT AS THIS AREA WILL STAY NORTH OF
THE WARM FRONT.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...RADIO OR TELEVISION FOR LATER
UPDATES ON THIS DEVELOPING WEATHER SITUATION.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 17, 7:15 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXChattahoochee20 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Georgia, 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.