Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 252, NWS Birmingham, AL

April 17, 1998Barbour County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 17, 1998, 9:53 PM CDT for Barbour 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 17, 1998, 9:53 PM CDT (02:53 UTC)
Expired
Apr 17, 1998, 10:40 PM CDT
In force
47 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Barbour County, AL

The radar

The Ft Rucker radar (KEOX), 46 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:54 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 17, 9:58 PM CDTHail 1.75Louisville, ALGolf ball size hail was reported in the Louisville area, reported by the state trooper post.

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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Apr 17, 5:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr
Apr 17, 6:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 00:00Z, 2.9 hours before the alert went out and 187 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 00:00Z on 1998-04-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 7 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 00:00Z on 1998-04-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -6 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
7 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-83 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1346 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
73 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-6 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
133 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
-0.0
Supercell composite
-0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

825 
WUUS1 KBHM 180253
SVRBHM
ALC005-180340-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  BARBOUR COUNTY... IN SOUTHEASTERN ALABAMA

* UNTIL 1040 PM CDT

* AT 952 PM CDT... A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS SHOWN...BY WEATHER RADAR
OVER SOUTERN BARBOUR COUNTY...JUST TO THE WEST OF TEXASVILLE.
MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTHEAST AT 30 MILES PER HOUR.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM STAY INDOORS AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH...
DESTRUCTIVE HAIL... 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 17, 9:21 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPike34 min
Apr 17, 11:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLowndes, Montgomery50 min
Apr 18, 1:38 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSumter62 min
Apr 18, 9:05 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXGreene, Sumter45 min
Apr 18, 9:47 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXGreene33 min
Apr 18, 10:38 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTuscaloosa32 min
Apr 18, 10:58 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson62 min
Apr 18, 12:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTuscaloosa45 min
Apr 18, 12:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson45 min
Apr 18, 5:13 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXCalhoun32 min
Apr 18, 5:24 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTuscaloosa46 min
Apr 18, 5:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXDallas18 min
Apr 18, 5:42 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXCherokee48 min
Apr 18, 5:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXChilton46 min
Apr 18, 6:03 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXChilton47 min
Apr 18, 6:15 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXJackson4 hr
Apr 18, 6:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson49 min
Apr 18, 6:20 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXJackson50 min
Apr 18, 6:20 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXDallas50 min
Apr 18, 6:26 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXCherokee19 min
Apr 18, 6:35 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXBlount, Marshall4 hr
Apr 18, 6:48 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXPerry62 min
Apr 18, 6:52 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXShelby63 min
Apr 18, 6:53 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXDeKalb47 min
Apr 18, 6:56 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXEtowah49 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.