Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 381, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 26, 1998, 1:10 PM CDT for Colbert County, Alabama. It was in force for 35 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 26, 1998, 1:10 PM CDT (18:10 UTC)
- Expired
- May 26, 1998, 1:45 PM CDT
- In force
- 35 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Colbert County, AL
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 26, 1:30 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 50 | Muscle Shoals, AL | EMA reported trees and powerlines down in Muscle Shoals. Hail reportedly covered the ground though no size was available. |
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, 6.2 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
- 366 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -127 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 952 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 55 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 69 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 110 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.2
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
316 WUUS1 KBHM 261812 RRA SVRBHM ALC033-261845- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 110 PM CDT TUE MAY 26 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... NORTHERN COLBERT COUNTY... IN NORTHERN ALABAMA * UNTIL 145 PM CDT * AT 108 PM CDT... A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS SHOWN...BY WEATHER RADAR * THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IS NEAR CHEROKEE AND WILL MOVE NORTHEAST TOWARD THE QUAD CITIES AREA. DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL ARE LIKELY. GO INSIDE A STURDY BUILDING AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING... PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING. DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS. DO NOT USE TELEPHONES OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED. MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE INTO LOW WATER CROSSINGS.
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 26, 9:59 AM CDT, 3 hours 11 minutes before
ALZ001>050-GAZ089-090-102-120-260205- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR NORTH/CENTRAL AL AND WEST CENTRAL GA NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 959 AM CDT TUE MAY 26 1998 THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING ALONG A COLD FRONT ACROSS TENNESSEE ARE EXPECTED TO SPREAD INTO NORTH ALABAMA THIS AFTERNOON. A FEW OVER THE TENNESSEE VALLEY COULD HAVE DAMAGING WINDS OR LARGE HAIL. ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL IN THE TENNESSEE VALLEY IS A POSSIBILITY THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. NO SEVERE WEATER IS EXPECTED ELSEWHERE OVER ALABAMA OR WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA. FOR MORE WEATHER INFORMATION VISIT OUR INTERNET SITE ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB AT HTTP://WWW.ACESAG.AUBURN.EDU/DEPARTMENT/NWS/
Special weather statement, May 26, 9:59 AM CDT, 3 hours 11 minutes before
ALZ001>050-GAZ089-090-102-120-260205- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR NORTH/CENTRAL AL AND WEST CENTRAL GA NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 959 AM CDT TUE MAY 26 1998 THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING ALONG A COLD FRONT ACROSS TENNESSEE ARE EXPECTED TO SPREAD INTO NORTH ALABAMA THIS AFTERNOON. A FEW OVER THE TENNESSEE VALLEY COULD HAVE DAMAGING WINDS OR LARGE HAIL. ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL IN THE TENNESSEE VALLEY IS A POSSIBILITY THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. NO SEVERE WEATER IS EXPECTED ELSEWHERE OVER ALABAMA OR WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA. FOR MORE WEATHER INFORMATION VISIT OUR INTERNET SITE ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB AT HTTP://WWW.ACESAG.AUBURN.EDU/DEPARTMENT/NWS/
Special weather statement, May 26, 1:00 PM CDT, 10 minutes before
ALZ001>038-262350- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 100 PM CDT TUE MAY 26 1998 ...FIRST SIGNIFICANT CHANCE OF RAIN FOR NORTH ALABAMA IN THREE WEEKS... A THUNDERSTORM COMPLEX OVER WESTERN TENNESSEE HAS SPAWNED AN LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS NORTHERN MISSISSIPPI EARLY THIS AFTERNOON. THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE MOVING EAST TOWARD ALABAMA...AND BRING THE FIRST CHANCE OF SIGNIFICANT RAIN TO THE NORTHERN PART OF ALABAMA SINCE MAY 11TH. EARLY THIS AFTERNOON THE THUNDERSTORMS EXTEND FROM NEAR MUSCLE SHOALS TO YAZOO CITY IN MISSISSIPPI. THESE STORMS WILL MOVE INTO PARTS OF NORTHWEST ALABAMA DURING THE AFTERNOON. IF THE STORMS HOLD TOGETHER...THUNDERSTORMS MAY AFFECT THE HUNTSVILLE...TUSCALOOSA AND BIRMINGHAM AREAS BY LATE THIS AFTERNOON. THESE STORMS WHILE PRODUCING THE FIRST RAIN IN THREE WEEKS...MAY ALSO PRODUCE SMALL HAIL AND GUSTY WINDS. AT SIGNS OF AN IMPENDING STORM...TOWERING THUNDERHEADS...DARKENING SKIES...LIGHTNING AND INCREASING WINDS...MOVE TO A PLACE OF SAFETY. TUNE IN NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR LOCAL RADIO OR TV STATION FOR THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 26, 1:12 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lauderdale | 63 min |
| May 26, 2:09 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Limestone | 61 min |
| May 26, 2:27 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lawrence | 63 min |
| May 26, 3:05 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Madison, Morgan | 65 min |
| May 26, 3:51 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Cullman | 64 min |
| May 26, 4:22 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Marshall | 33 min |
| May 26, 4:31 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Jackson | 49 min |
| May 26, 4:40 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | DeKalb | 50 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.