Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 254, NWS Birmingham, AL

April 18, 1998Sumter County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 18, 1998, 1:38 AM CDT for Sumter County, Alabama. It was in force for 62 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 18, 1998, 1:38 AM CDT (06:38 UTC)
Expired: Apr 18, 1998, 2:40 AM CDT
In force: 62 min
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL
Area: Whole counties

County Sumter County, AL

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 6.6 hours before the alert went out and 148 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 1196 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 77 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -92 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: -41 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.

690 
WUUS1 KBHM 180640 RRA
SVRBHM
ALC119-180740-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
138 AM CDT SAT APR 18 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  SUMTER COUNTY... IN WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA

* UNTIL 240 AM CDT

* AT 134 AM CDT... A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS SHOWN...BY WEATHER RADAR
JUST NORTH OF MERIDIAN MOVING NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE PASS NEAR LIVINGSTON AND
GAINESVILLE.

THIS STORM HAS A HISTORY OF LARGE HAIL. GO INSIDE A STURDY BUILDING
AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS

WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING... PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A
STRONG BUILDING. DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS. DO NOT USE TELEPHONES OR
ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL THE STORM HAS
PASSED. MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE INTO LOW WATER CROSSINGS.

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 17, 10:39 PM CDT, 2 hours 59 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM
1039 PM CDT FRI APR 17 1998

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0958 PM                              AL   1.75 INCH HAIL
04/17/98   BARBOUR                        GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL
                                          REPORTED IN LEWISVILLE
                                          AREA, REPORTED BY EUFAULA
                                          STATE TROOPER POST.

Local storm report, Apr 17, 10:39 PM CDT, 2 hours 59 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM
1039 PM CDT FRI APR 17 1998

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0958 PM                              AL   1.75 INCH HAIL
04/17/98   BARBOUR                        GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL
                                          REPORTED IN LEWISVILLE
                                          AREA, REPORTED BY EUFAULA
                                          STATE TROOPER POST.

Local storm report, Apr 17, 10:42 PM CDT, 2 hours 56 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...DELAYED REPORTS...
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM
1042 PM CDT FRI APR 17 1998

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0814 PM    BRIDGEPORT                AL   WIND DAMAGE
04/16/98   JACKSON                        LARGE TREES DOWN NEAR
                                          BRIDGEPORT HWY 72 AND 94

0838 PM                              AL   WIND DAMAGE
04/16/98   ETOWAH                         TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN

Local storm report, Apr 17, 10:42 PM CDT, 2 hours 56 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...DELAYED REPORTS...
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM
1042 PM CDT FRI APR 17 1998

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0814 PM    BRIDGEPORT                AL   WIND DAMAGE
04/16/98   JACKSON                        LARGE TREES DOWN NEAR
                                          BRIDGEPORT HWY 72 AND 94

0838 PM                              AL   WIND DAMAGE
04/16/98   ETOWAH                         TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN

Local storm report, Apr 17, 10:52 PM CDT, 2 hours 46 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM
1052 PM CDT FRI APR 17 1998

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0958 PM                              AL   1.75 INCH HAIL
04/17/98   BARBOUR                        GOLFBALL SIZE HAIL
                                          LEWISVILLE AREA

Local storm report, Apr 17, 10:52 PM CDT, 2 hours 46 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM
1052 PM CDT FRI APR 17 1998

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0958 PM                              AL   1.75 INCH HAIL
04/17/98   BARBOUR                        GOLFBALL SIZE HAIL
                                          LEWISVILLE AREA

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 17, 9:21 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Pike	34 min
Apr 17, 9:53 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Barbour	47 min
Apr 17, 11:40 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Lowndes, Montgomery	50 min
Apr 18, 9:05 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Greene, Sumter	45 min
Apr 18, 9:47 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Greene	33 min
Apr 18, 10:38 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Tuscaloosa	32 min
Apr 18, 10:58 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Jefferson	62 min
Apr 18, 12:00 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Tuscaloosa	45 min
Apr 18, 12:10 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Jefferson	45 min
Apr 18, 5:13 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Calhoun	32 min
Apr 18, 5:24 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Tuscaloosa	46 min
Apr 18, 5:37 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Dallas	18 min
Apr 18, 5:42 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Cherokee	48 min
Apr 18, 5:44 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Chilton	46 min
Apr 18, 6:03 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Chilton	47 min
Apr 18, 6:15 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Jackson	4 hr
Apr 18, 6:16 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Jefferson	49 min
Apr 18, 6:20 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Jackson	50 min
Apr 18, 6:20 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Dallas	50 min
Apr 18, 6:26 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Cherokee	19 min
Apr 18, 6:35 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Blount, Marshall	4 hr
Apr 18, 6:48 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Perry	62 min
Apr 18, 6:52 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Shelby	63 min
Apr 18, 6:53 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	DeKalb	47 min
Apr 18, 6:56 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Etowah	49 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Alabama, 1998 Every 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.