Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 265, NWS Birmingham, AL

April 18, 1998Chilton County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 18, 1998, 7:13 PM CDT for Chilton 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, 7:13 PM CDT (00:13 UTC)
Expired: Apr 18, 1998, 8:15 PM CDT
In force: 62 min
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL
Area: Whole counties

County Chilton County, AL

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 18, 5:45 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 0.2 hours before the alert went out and 37 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: 782 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -35 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 612 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 83 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 229 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 393 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 1.7
Supercell composite: 13.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBHM 190013 RRA
SVRBHM
ALC021-190115-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  CHILTON COUNTY... IN CENTRAL ALABAMA

* UNTIL 815 PM CDT

* AT 711 PM CDT... A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS SHOWN...BY WEATHER RADAR
OVER WESTERN CHILTON COUNTY.  MOVEMENT OF THIS STORM WAS TO THE EAST
NORTHEAST AT 35 MILES PER HOUR.  MAPLESVILLE AND THORSBY WILL BE IN
THE PATH OF THIS STORM.  THE MAIN THREAT AT THIS TIME WILL BE STRONG
WINDS AND HAIL.

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.

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.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 18, 7:01 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Marshall	19 min
Apr 18, 7:02 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Jefferson	33 min
Apr 18, 7:26 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	DeKalb	4 hr
Apr 18, 7:26 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	St. Clair, Talladega	64 min
Apr 18, 7:30 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Lowndes	50 min
Apr 18, 7:36 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	DeKalb	44 min
Apr 18, 7:39 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Chilton	31 min
Apr 18, 7:44 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Cherokee	46 min
Apr 18, 7:55 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Shelby	20 min
Apr 18, 7:58 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Calhoun	47 min
Apr 18, 8:23 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Talladega	62 min
Apr 18, 9:06 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Cherokee	19 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.