Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 36, NWS Birmingham, AL

February 26, 1998Shelby County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Feb 26, 1998, 4:25 PM CST for Shelby County, Alabama. It was in force for 45 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, 4:25 PM CST (22:25 UTC)
Expired
Feb 26, 1998, 5:10 PM CST
In force
45 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Shelby County, AL

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 14 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:26 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
Feb 26, 4:45 PM CSTThunderstorm Wind 50Montevallo, ALA few trees were knocked down, including one across an intersection.

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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Feb 26, 1:15 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC4 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 10.4 hours before the alert went out and 14 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, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 1998-02-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 1998-02-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 158 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
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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

788 
WUUS1 KBHM 262226 RRA
SVRBHM
ALC117-262310-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
425 PM CST THU FEB 26 1998


THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM AL HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 510 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN CENTRAL ALABAMA

   ...SHELBY COUNTY...

AT 425 PM CST... WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
OVER EXTREME WESTERN SHELBY COUNTY...FROM WEST OF HELENA...SOUTH TO
NEAR MONTEVALLO.

THIS LINE WAS MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH...AND WILL AFFECT THE REMAINDER OF
SHELBY COUNTY BETWEEN 425 PM AND 515 PM.  DAMAGING WINDS AND HAIL
REMAIN LIKELY WITH THESE STORMS AS THEY MOVE EASTWARD.

THIS WARNING EXTENDS THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING WHICH WAS IN
EFFECT FOR SHELBY COUNTY UNTIL 430 PM.





<<CALL TO ACTION>>
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH...
DESTRUCTIVE HAIL... DEADLY LIGHTNING... AND VERY HEAVY RAIN. FOR
YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF
YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS. HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO DONT
DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Feb 26, 1:11 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPickens, Sumter49 min
Feb 26, 2:02 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXGreene, Pickens, Sumter48 min
Feb 26, 2:32 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXHale, Tuscaloosa58 min
Feb 26, 3:10 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXTuscaloosa35 min
Feb 26, 3:22 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson93 min
Feb 26, 3:31 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPerry59 min
Feb 26, 3:42 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXWalker48 min
Feb 26, 3:50 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXShelby40 min
Feb 26, 4:19 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBibb31 min
Feb 26, 4:36 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPerry34 min
Feb 26, 4:46 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBibb, Chilton49 min
Feb 26, 5:02 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTalladega48 min
Feb 26, 5:07 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXShelby63 min
Feb 26, 5:13 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPerry47 min
Feb 26, 5:16 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXDallas49 min
Feb 26, 5:46 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXChilton44 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.