Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 281, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 3, 1998, 3:07 PM CDT for Elmore County, Alabama. It was in force for 48 min. 2 reports 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
- May 3, 1998, 3:07 PM CDT (20:07 UTC)
- Expired
- May 3, 1998, 3:55 PM CDT
- In force
- 48 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Elmore County, AL
The radar
The Maxwell AFB radar (KMXX), 34 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:08 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 3, 3:20 PM CDT | Hail 1.75 | Wetumpka, AL | Golf ball size hail was reported near Emerald Mountain. |
| May 3, 3:33 PM CDT | Hail 1 | Tallassee, AL | Hail the size of quarters was reported along SR 14 on the west side of Tallassee. |
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.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 3, 2:30 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 8.1 hours before the alert went out and 88 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
- 446 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -80 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1216 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 56 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 127 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 165 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.9
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KBHM 032006 RRA SVRBHM ALC051-032055- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 307 PM CDT SUN MAY 3 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... ELMORE COUNTY... IN CENTRAL ALABAMA * UNTIL 355 PM CDT * AT 305 PM CDT... A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM PRODUCING LARGE HAIL WAS SHOWN...BY WEATHER RADAR JUST WEST OF WETUPMKA. * THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH AND WILL AFFECT MUCH OF THE COUNTY INCLUDING TALLASSEE THROUGH 355 PM. DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL ARE LIKELY. GO INSIDE 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, May 3, 10:00 AM CDT, 5 hours 7 minutes before
ALZ001>050-GAZ089-090-102-120-032300- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR NORTH/CENTRAL AL AND WEST CENTRAL GA NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 1000 AM CDT SUN MAY 3 1998 A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE INTO WEST ALABAMA LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND ACROSS THE STATE DURING THE EVENING HOURS. THE AIRMASS ACROSS THE REGION IS MODERATELY UNSTABLE AND THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS THE AREA UNDER A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. AS THE FRONT APPROACHES FROM THE WEST...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP DURING THE AFTERNOON HEATING. SOME OF THE STORMS COULD BE SEVERE...PRODUCING LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. THE STORMS WILL LIKELY CONTINUE WELL INTO THE EVENING HOURS. STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL SHOULD REMAIN ALERT FOR CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND MONITOR NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL TV AND RADIO FOR POSSIBLE WARNINGS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THE HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR SOUTHWEST ALABAMA... SEE PRODUCT BHMSPSMOB. FOR SOUTHEAST ALABAMA... LOOK AT MIASPSTLH. FOR MORE WEATHER INFORMATION VISIT OUR INTERNET SITE ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB AT HTTP://WWW.ACESAG.AUBURN.EDU/DEPARTMENT/NWS/
Special weather statement, May 3, 10:00 AM CDT, 5 hours 7 minutes before
ALZ001>050-GAZ089-090-102-120-032300- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR NORTH/CENTRAL AL AND WEST CENTRAL GA NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 1000 AM CDT SUN MAY 3 1998 A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE INTO WEST ALABAMA LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND ACROSS THE STATE DURING THE EVENING HOURS. THE AIRMASS ACROSS THE REGION IS MODERATELY UNSTABLE AND THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS THE AREA UNDER A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. AS THE FRONT APPROACHES FROM THE WEST...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP DURING THE AFTERNOON HEATING. SOME OF THE STORMS COULD BE SEVERE...PRODUCING LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. THE STORMS WILL LIKELY CONTINUE WELL INTO THE EVENING HOURS. STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL SHOULD REMAIN ALERT FOR CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND MONITOR NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL TV AND RADIO FOR POSSIBLE WARNINGS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THE HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR SOUTHWEST ALABAMA... SEE PRODUCT BHMSPSMOB. FOR SOUTHEAST ALABAMA... LOOK AT MIASPSTLH. FOR MORE WEATHER INFORMATION VISIT OUR INTERNET SITE ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB AT HTTP://WWW.ACESAG.AUBURN.EDU/DEPARTMENT/NWS/
The office that day
Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 3, 2:14 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Marengo | 46 min |
| May 3, 2:27 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Dallas, Perry | 63 min |
| May 3, 2:41 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Autauga | 49 min |
| May 3, 2:42 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Calhoun, Talladega | 48 min |
| May 3, 2:46 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Barbour | 49 min |
| May 3, 3:01 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Marengo | 49 min |
| May 3, 3:13 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Cleburne | 47 min |
| May 3, 3:23 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Macon, Tallapoosa | 47 min |
| May 3, 3:39 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lowndes | 46 min |
| May 3, 3:47 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Cherokee, DeKalb | 63 min |
| May 3, 3:48 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Autauga, Dallas | 47 min |
| May 3, 3:50 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Montgomery | 65 min |
| May 3, 3:54 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Perry | 36 min |
| May 3, 3:54 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Bibb, Tuscaloosa | 46 min |
| May 3, 4:06 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Macon | 49 min |
| May 3, 4:08 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Elmore | 47 min |
| May 3, 4:16 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Russell | 64 min |
| May 3, 4:27 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Coosa, Tallapoosa | 48 min |
| May 3, 4:30 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Shelby | 20 min |
| May 3, 4:32 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Chilton | 63 min |
| May 3, 4:34 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Dallas | 36 min |
| May 3, 4:37 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Bibb | 18 min |
| May 3, 4:49 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Barbour | 46 min |
| May 3, 4:50 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Bullock, Pike | 65 min |
| May 3, 4:52 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Bibb | 33 min |
| May 3, 5:05 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Chambers | 65 min |
| May 3, 5:08 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Randolph | 62 min |
| May 3, 5:22 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lee | 48 min |
| May 3, 5:30 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Chilton | 50 min |
| May 3, 5:35 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Barbour | 60 min |
| May 3, 5:36 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Clay, Talladega | 49 min |
| May 3, 6:51 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Clay | 34 min |
| May 3, 6:54 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Randolph | 61 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.