Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 31, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Feb 26, 1998, 3:22 PM CST for Jefferson County, Alabama. It was in force for 93 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
- Feb 26, 1998, 3:22 PM CST (21:22 UTC)
- Expired
- Feb 26, 1998, 4:55 PM CST
- In force
- 93 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Jefferson County, AL
The radar
The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 44 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:23 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 26, 3:35 PM CST | Hail 0.75 | Adamsville, AL | Dime size hail was reported in Birmingport. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 26, 1:15 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 4 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 9.4 hours before the alert went out and 43 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
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 2334 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 40 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 158 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 287 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
382 WUUS1 KBHM 262123 RRA SVRBHM ALC073-262255- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 322 PM CST THU FEB 26 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM AL HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 455 PM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN CENTRAL ALABAMA ...JEFFERSON COUNTY... AT 319 PM CST... WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER EXTREME EASTERN TUSCALOOSA AND WESTERN BIBB COUNTIES. THIS LINE WAS MOVING EAST AT 35 TO 40 MPH...AND WILL MOVE ACROSS JEFFERSON COUNTY BETWEEN 325 PM AND 500 PM. WIND DAMAGE HAS BEEN REPORTED WITH THESE STORMS IN THE PAST HOUR...AND DAMAGING WINDS REMAIN LIKELY OVER JEFFERSON COUNTY THROUGH 5 PM. THERE IS ALSO THE POTENTIAL FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF BRIEF WEAK TORNADOES WITH THESE STORMS. <<CALL TO ACTION>> 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. THESE 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, Feb 26, 9:35 AM CST, 5 hours 47 minutes before
ALZ001>050-GAZ089-090-102-120-262000- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR NORTH/CENTRAL AL AND WEST CENTRAL GA NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 935 AM CST TUE FEB 26 1998 THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TONIGHT WEST OF A LINE FROM HUNTSVILLE TO MONTGOMERY. ALTHOUGH SHOWERS AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO SPREAD EAST INTO ALABAMA THIS AFTERNOON...SEVERE WEATHER IS FORECAST TO REMAIN WEST OF THE STATE UNTIL TONIGHT. THE GREATEST THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER IN WEST ALABAMA WILL BE AFTER 9 PM AS A COLD FRONT APPROACHES THE STATE. ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL IN WEST ALABAMA MAY BE NECESSARY THIS EVENING. FOR 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, Feb 26, 9:35 AM CST, 5 hours 47 minutes before
ALZ001>050-GAZ089-090-102-120-262000- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR NORTH/CENTRAL AL AND WEST CENTRAL GA NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 935 AM CST TUE FEB 26 1998 THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TONIGHT WEST OF A LINE FROM HUNTSVILLE TO MONTGOMERY. ALTHOUGH SHOWERS AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO SPREAD EAST INTO ALABAMA THIS AFTERNOON...SEVERE WEATHER IS FORECAST TO REMAIN WEST OF THE STATE UNTIL TONIGHT. THE GREATEST THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER IN WEST ALABAMA WILL BE AFTER 9 PM AS A COLD FRONT APPROACHES THE STATE. ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL IN WEST ALABAMA MAY BE NECESSARY THIS EVENING. FOR 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, Feb 26, 10:10 AM CST, 5 hours 12 minutes before
ALZ001>050-GAZ089-090-102-120-262000- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDTAED FOR NORTH/CENTRAL AL AND WEST CENTRAL GA NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 1010 AM CST TUE FEB 26 1998 THE SLIGHT RISK AREA FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING HAS BEEN EXTENDED EAST TO INCLUDE ALL OF ALABAMA. A TORNADO WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR SOUTH MISSISSIPPI. STRONG STORMS WERE JUST CROSSING THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER AT 10 AM AND MAY REACH WEST ALABAMA BY MID AFTERNOON...AND THEN CONTINUE EASTWARD THROUGH THE EVENING HOURS. ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL IN WEST ALABAMA MAY BE NECESSARY BY MID AFTERNOON...AND ELSEWHERE THIS EVENING. FOR MORE WEZATHER 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 26, 1:11 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Pickens, Sumter | 49 min |
| Feb 26, 2:02 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Greene, Pickens, Sumter | 48 min |
| Feb 26, 2:32 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Hale, Tuscaloosa | 58 min |
| Feb 26, 3:10 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Tuscaloosa | 35 min |
| Feb 26, 3:31 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Perry | 59 min |
| Feb 26, 3:42 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Walker | 48 min |
| Feb 26, 3:50 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Shelby | 40 min |
| Feb 26, 4:19 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Bibb | 31 min |
| Feb 26, 4:25 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Shelby | 45 min |
| Feb 26, 4:36 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Perry | 34 min |
| Feb 26, 4:46 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Bibb, Chilton | 49 min |
| Feb 26, 5:02 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Talladega | 48 min |
| Feb 26, 5:07 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Shelby | 63 min |
| Feb 26, 5:13 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Perry | 47 min |
| Feb 26, 5:16 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Dallas | 49 min |
| Feb 26, 5:46 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Chilton | 44 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.