Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 293, NWS Birmingham, AL

May 3, 1998Russell County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 3, 1998, 4:16 PM CDT for Russell County, Alabama. It was in force for 64 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
May 3, 1998, 4:16 PM CDT (21:16 UTC)
Expired
May 3, 1998, 5:20 PM CDT
In force
64 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Russell County, AL

The radar

The Maxwell AFB radar (KMXX), 63 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:16 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
May 3, 4:30 PM CDTHail 0.88Hurtsboro, ALNickel size hail was reported by city hall.

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

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 12:00Z, 9.3 hours before the alert went out and 136 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 12:00Z on 1998-05-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 239 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 12:00Z on 1998-05-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 100 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
239 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-118 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1307 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
45 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
100 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
174 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBHM 032116 RRA
SVRBHM
ALC113-032220-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
416 PM CDT SUN MAY 3 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  RUSSELL COUNTY... IN EAST CENTRAL ALABAMA

* UNTIL 520 PM CDT

* AT 414 PM CDT... A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM PRODUCING LARGE HAIL WAS
  SHOWN...BY WEATHER RADAR MOVING OUT OF EASTERN MACON COUNTY INTO
WESTERN RUSSELL COUNTY IN THE AREA BETWEEN UCHEE AND HURTSBORO.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM ON ITS PRESENT TRACK WILL MOVE ACROSS THE
CENTRAL PORTION OF RUSSELL COUNTY.

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

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 3, 2:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarengo46 min
May 3, 2:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXDallas, Perry63 min
May 3, 2:41 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXAutauga49 min
May 3, 2:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCalhoun, Talladega48 min
May 3, 2:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBarbour49 min
May 3, 3:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarengo49 min
May 3, 3:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXElmore48 min
May 3, 3:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCleburne47 min
May 3, 3:23 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMacon, Tallapoosa47 min
May 3, 3:39 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLowndes46 min
May 3, 3:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCherokee, DeKalb63 min
May 3, 3:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXAutauga, Dallas47 min
May 3, 3:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMontgomery65 min
May 3, 3:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPerry36 min
May 3, 3:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBibb, Tuscaloosa46 min
May 3, 4:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMacon49 min
May 3, 4:08 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXElmore47 min
May 3, 4:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCoosa, Tallapoosa48 min
May 3, 4:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXShelby20 min
May 3, 4:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXChilton63 min
May 3, 4:34 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXDallas36 min
May 3, 4:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBibb18 min
May 3, 4:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBarbour46 min
May 3, 4:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBullock, Pike65 min
May 3, 4:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBibb33 min
May 3, 5:05 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXChambers65 min
May 3, 5:08 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXRandolph62 min
May 3, 5:22 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLee48 min
May 3, 5:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXChilton50 min
May 3, 5:35 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBarbour60 min
May 3, 5:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXClay, Talladega49 min
May 3, 6:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXClay34 min
May 3, 6:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXRandolph61 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.