Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 318, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 6, 1998, 1:57 PM CDT for Colbert County, Alabama. It was in force for 48 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 6, 1998, 1:57 PM CDT (18:57 UTC)
- Expired
- May 6, 1998, 2:45 PM CDT
- In force
- 48 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Colbert County, AL
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 6, 2:30 PM CDT | Hail 0.75 | Littleville, AL | Dime size hail was reported just north of Littleville. |
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
Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 12:00Z, 7.0 hours before the alert went out and 193 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
- 51 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -84 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1243 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 28 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 27 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 112 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.
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 6, 9:40 AM CDT, 4 hours 17 minutes before
ALZ001>050-GAZ089-090-102-120-070225- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR NORTH/CENTRAL AL AND WEST CENTRAL GA NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 940 AM CDT WED MAY 6 1998 SPC HAS INDICATED A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER IN THE NORTHWEST QUARTER OF ALABAMA TODAY AND ALL BUT THE SOUTHWEST CORNER FOR THURSDAY. NORTH AND CENTRAL ALABAMA ARE IN THE WARM SECTOR OF THE WEATHER SYSTEMS OVER ARKANSAS AND MISSOURI. DEW POINTS WILL SHOW A GRADUAL RISE INTO TONIGHT AND THURSDAY. HEATING THIS AFTERNOON WILL INCREASE LAPSE RATES. MAIN THREAT SHOULD BE HAIL AND WINDS TODAY. SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL SHOULD KEEP ALERT FOR DEVELOPING WEATHER LATE TONIGHT AND INTO THURSDAY. ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL WILL NOT BE NECESSARY TODAY. 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 6, 2:04 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Colbert | 51 min |
| May 6, 2:51 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Colbert | 49 min |
| May 6, 3:01 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Lawrence | 34 min |
| May 6, 3:06 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Franklin | 34 min |
| May 6, 3:09 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Morgan | 31 min |
| May 6, 3:35 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Franklin | 35 min |
| May 6, 3:39 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Lawrence | 51 min |
| May 6, 3:40 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Morgan | 65 min |
| May 6, 4:03 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Morgan | 47 min |
| May 6, 4:05 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Marshall | 60 min |
| May 6, 4:09 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Marion, Winston | 51 min |
| May 6, 5:02 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Cullman | 48 min |
| May 6, 5:22 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Cullman | 48 min |
| May 6, 5:43 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Tuscaloosa | 47 min |
| May 6, 5:53 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Blount | 62 min |
| May 6, 6:27 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Tuscaloosa | 33 min |
| May 6, 6:30 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Pickens | 50 min |
| May 6, 6:34 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Bibb | 46 min |
| May 6, 6:39 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Jefferson | 46 min |
| May 6, 6:42 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | St. Clair | 63 min |
| May 6, 6:48 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Shelby | 47 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.