Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 322, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 6, 1998, 5:02 PM CDT for Cullman 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, 5:02 PM CDT (22:02 UTC)
- Expired
- May 6, 1998, 5:50 PM CDT
- In force
- 48 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Cullman County, AL
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 6, 5:15 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 50 | West Pt, AL | Trees were reported down near West Point. |
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 6, 2:15 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 10.0 hours before the alert went out and 106 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
- 4 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -335 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1290 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 42 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 122 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 221 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
943 WUUS1 KBHM 062202 RRA SVRBHM ALC043-062250- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 502 PM CDT WED MAY 6 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... CULLMAN COUNTY... IN NORTHERN ALABAMA * UNTIL 550 PM CDT * AT 501 PM CDT... A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS SHOWN...BY WEATHER RADAR ALONG THE WINSTON/CULLMAN COUNTY LINE...JUST WEST OF JONES CHAPEL. THE STORM WAS MOVING EAST AT AROUND 30 MPH...AND WILL AFFECT THE CULLMAN AREA BETWEEN 515 AND 540 PM CDT. GO INSIDE A STURDY BUILDING AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING.
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
Local storm report, May 6, 4:18 PM CDT, 44 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM
418 PM CDT WED MAY 06 1998
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0411 PM MOULTON AL 1 INCH HAIL
05/06/98 LAWRENCE QUARTER SIZED HAIL NORTH
OF MOULTON
0412 PM FALKVILLE AL .75 INCH HAIL
05/06/98 MORGAN DIME SIZED HAIL IN
FALKVILLE
0414 PM RUSSELLVILLE AL .75 INCH HAIL
05/06/98 FRANKLIN DIME SIZED HAIL 6 MILES
NORTH OF RUSSELLVILLELocal storm report, May 6, 4:18 PM CDT, 44 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM
418 PM CDT WED MAY 06 1998
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0411 PM MOULTON AL 1 INCH HAIL
05/06/98 LAWRENCE QUARTER SIZED HAIL NORTH
OF MOULTON
0412 PM FALKVILLE AL .75 INCH HAIL
05/06/98 MORGAN DIME SIZED HAIL IN
FALKVILLE
0414 PM RUSSELLVILLE AL .75 INCH HAIL
05/06/98 FRANKLIN DIME SIZED HAIL 6 MILES
NORTH OF RUSSELLVILLEThe office that day
Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 6, 1:57 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Colbert | 48 min |
| 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, 5:22 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.