Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 384, NWS Birmingham, AL

May 26, 1998Lawrence County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 26, 1998, 2:27 PM CDT for Lawrence County, Alabama. It was in force for 63 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, 2:27 PM CDT (19:27 UTC)
Expired
May 26, 1998, 3:30 PM CDT
In force
63 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Lawrence County, AL

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 26, 2:36 PM CDTHail 1Moulton, ALQuarter size hail was reported at Wolf Springs just south of SR 157.

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
May 26, 1:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 7.5 hours before the alert went out and 157 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 1998-05-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 441 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 1998-05-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 27 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
441 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-65 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
939 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
27 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
72 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

747 
WUUS1 KBHM 261929 RRA
SVRBHM
ALC079-262030-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
227 PM CDT TUE MAY 26 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  LAWRENCE COUNTY... IN NORTHERN ALABAMA

* UNTIL 330 PM CDT

WEATHER RADAR INDICATES A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IN WESTERN LAWRENCE
COUNTY NEAR HATTON.  THIS STORM IS MOVING EAST AND WILL MOVE JUST
NORTH OF THE MOULTON AREA.

DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL ARE LIKELY. GO INSIDE A STURDY BUILDING
AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS

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.

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, 4 hours 28 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, 4 hours 28 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, 1 hour 27 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.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 26, 1:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXColbert35 min
May 26, 1:12 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLauderdale63 min
May 26, 2:09 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLimestone61 min
May 26, 3:05 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMadison, Morgan65 min
May 26, 3:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCullman64 min
May 26, 4:22 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarshall33 min
May 26, 4:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJackson49 min
May 26, 4:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXDeKalb50 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.