Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 274, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 30, 1998, 5:44 PM CDT for Bullock County, Alabama. It was in force for 31 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 30, 1998, 5:44 PM CDT (22:44 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 30, 1998, 6:15 PM CDT
- In force
- 31 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Bullock County, AL
The radar
The Maxwell AFB radar (KMXX), 49 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:46 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 30, 6:00 PM CDT | Hail 0.75 | Union Spgs, AL | Penny size hail was reported in Union Springs. |
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 nearest sounding before it
Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 10.7 hours before the alert went out and 156 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
- 158 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -11 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 515 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 36 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 163 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 196 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.1
- Supercell composite
- 0.9
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KBHM 302244 RRA SVRBHM ALC011-302315- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 544 PM CDT THU APR 30 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... BULLOCK COUNTY... IN EAST CENTRAL ALABAMA * UNTIL 615 PM CDT * AT 541 PM CDT... A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM PRODUCING LARGE HAIL WAS SHOWN...BY WEATHER RADAR IN WESTERN BULLOCK COUNTY NEAR SHOPTON. * THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WAS MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH AND WILL BE AFFECTING HECTOR...AND UNION SPRINGS THROUGH 615 PM. DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL ARE LIKELY. GO INSIDE A STURDY BUILDING AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS! IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE... SEEK REFUGE FROM THE STORM IN A STRONG BUILDING. BOATERS ON AREA LAKES SHOULD TAKE SHELTER. DAMAGING WIND... LARGE HAIL... VERY HEAVY RAIN... AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE ALL LIKELY. DO NOT SEEK SHELTER UNDER TREES OR OTHER ISOLATED TALL OBJECTS. TH2ESE ATTRACT LIGHTNING. DO NOT DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.
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 30, 5:22 PM CDT, 22 minutes before
ALZ049-302255- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 522 PM CDT THU APR 30 1998 THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR PIKE COUNTY HAS BEEN CANCELED. AT 522 PM...ONLY A FEW SHOWERS EXTENDED ACROSS SOUTHERN PIKE COUNTY. ALL SHOWERS WERE MOVING EASTWARD OUT OF THE COUNTY.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 30, 3:53 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lowndes | 47 min |
| Apr 30, 4:05 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Montgomery | 45 min |
| Apr 30, 4:19 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Etowah | 46 min |
| Apr 30, 4:43 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Pike | 47 min |
| Apr 30, 5:16 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Montgomery | 34 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.