Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 388, NWS Birmingham, AL

May 26, 1998Jackson County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 26, 1998, 4:31 PM CDT for Jackson County, Alabama. It was in force for 49 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 26, 1998, 4:31 PM CDT (21:31 UTC)
Expired
May 26, 1998, 5:20 PM CDT
In force
49 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Jackson County, AL

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

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 12:00Z, 9.5 hours before the alert went out and 160 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 1998-05-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 366 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 1998-05-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 69 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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 26, 1:00 PM CDT, 3 hours 31 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.
Local storm report, May 26, 3:12 PM CDT, 1 hour 19 minutes before
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Local storm report, May 26, 3:12 PM CDT, 1 hour 19 minutes before
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Special weather statement, May 26, 3:49 PM CDT, 42 minutes before
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      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
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Special weather statement, May 26, 3:49 PM CDT, 42 minutes before
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<head>
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  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
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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, 2:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLawrence63 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, 4:40 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.