Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 396, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 4, 1998, 1:03 PM CDT for Cherokee County, Alabama. It was in force for 47 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
- Jun 4, 1998, 1:03 PM CDT (18:03 UTC)
- Expired
- Jun 4, 1998, 1:50 PM CDT
- In force
- 47 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Cherokee County, AL
The nearest sounding before it
Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 12:00Z, 6.1 hours before the alert went out and 136 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
- 2419 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -25 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 685 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 38 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 85 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 67 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.9
- Supercell composite
- 4.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
508 WUUS1 KBHM 041806 RRA SVRBHM ALC019-041850- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 103 PM CDT THU JUN 4 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... CHEROKEE COUNTY... IN NORTHERN ALABAMA * UNTIL 150 PM CDT * AT 101 PM CDT... A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS SHOWN...BY WEATHER RADAR NEAR LEESBURG. THE STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH. * THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...GALYESVILLE BY 115 PM. DAMAGING WINDS AND HEAVY RAIN ARE LIKELY. GO INSIDE A STURDY BUILDING AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS IF YOU ARE OUTDOORS...MOVE TO A PLACE OF SHELTER IMMEDIATELY IF A STORM APPROACHES. MOTORISTS SHOULD REMAIN ALERT FOR REDUCED VISIBILITIES DURING DOWNPOURS OF RAIN. STREETS MAY FLOOD QUICKLY.
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, Jun 4, 10:05 AM CDT, 2 hours 58 minutes before
ALZ001>050-GAZ089-090-102-120-050300- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR NORTH/CENTRAL AL AND WEST CENTRAL GA NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 1005 AM CDT THU JUN 4 1998 THE HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE THAT HAS KEPT THE AREA DRY FOR THE PAST FEW WEEKS HAS STARTED TO BREAK DOWN. SHOWERS HAVE BEGUN TO DEVELOP IN NORTHERN ALABAMA...AND ADDITIONAL SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT IS EXPECTED ACROSS THE AREA THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON AND INTO TONIGHT. AS TEMPERATURES CLIMB THIS AFTERNOON...THE AIRMASS WILL BECOME VERY UNSTABLE. THIS WILL ALLOW THUNDERSTORMS TO BECOME VERY STRONG... ESPECIALLY DURING THE PEAK HEATING OF THE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING. A FEW STORMS MAY EVEN BECOME SEVERE...AND THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS PLACED THE NORTHERN TWO THIRDS AND ALABAMA AND GEORGIA UNDER A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. THE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON WILL BE MAINLY PULSE TYPE...WHICH CAN GROW AND DIMINISH RAPIDLY. THE PRIMARY SEVERE WEATHER THREAT FROM THIS TYPE OF THUNDERSTORM IS GENERALLY DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL. LATER IN THE AFTERNOON...AND TONIGHT...LINES OF THUNDERSTORMS WITH DAMAGING WINDS WILL ALSO BECOME A POSSIBILITY. STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL SHOULD REMAIN ALERT FOR CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND MONITOR NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL TV AND RADIO FOR POSSIBLE WARNINGS THROUGH TONIGHT. THE HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR SOUTHWEST ALABAMA... SEE PRODUCT BHMSPSMOB. FOR SOUTHEAST ALABAMA... LOOK AT MIASPSTLH. FOR MORE WEATHER INFORMATION VISIT OUR INTERNET SITE ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB AT HTTP://WWW.ACESAG.AUBURN.EDU/DEPARTMENT/NWS/
Special weather statement, Jun 4, 10:05 AM CDT, 2 hours 58 minutes before
ALZ001>050-GAZ089-090-102-120-050300- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR NORTH/CENTRAL AL AND WEST CENTRAL GA NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 1005 AM CDT THU JUN 4 1998 THE HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE THAT HAS KEPT THE AREA DRY FOR THE PAST FEW WEEKS HAS STARTED TO BREAK DOWN. SHOWERS HAVE BEGUN TO DEVELOP IN NORTHERN ALABAMA...AND ADDITIONAL SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT IS EXPECTED ACROSS THE AREA THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON AND INTO TONIGHT. AS TEMPERATURES CLIMB THIS AFTERNOON...THE AIRMASS WILL BECOME VERY UNSTABLE. THIS WILL ALLOW THUNDERSTORMS TO BECOME VERY STRONG... ESPECIALLY DURING THE PEAK HEATING OF THE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING. A FEW STORMS MAY EVEN BECOME SEVERE...AND THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS PLACED THE NORTHERN TWO THIRDS AND ALABAMA AND GEORGIA UNDER A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. THE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON WILL BE MAINLY PULSE TYPE...WHICH CAN GROW AND DIMINISH RAPIDLY. THE PRIMARY SEVERE WEATHER THREAT FROM THIS TYPE OF THUNDERSTORM IS GENERALLY DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL. LATER IN THE AFTERNOON...AND TONIGHT...LINES OF THUNDERSTORMS WITH DAMAGING WINDS WILL ALSO BECOME A POSSIBILITY. STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL SHOULD REMAIN ALERT FOR CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND MONITOR NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL TV AND RADIO FOR POSSIBLE WARNINGS THROUGH TONIGHT. THE HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR SOUTHWEST ALABAMA... SEE PRODUCT BHMSPSMOB. FOR SOUTHEAST ALABAMA... LOOK AT MIASPSTLH. FOR MORE WEATHER INFORMATION VISIT OUR INTERNET SITE ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB AT HTTP://WWW.ACESAG.AUBURN.EDU/DEPARTMENT/NWS/
The office that day
Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 4, 12:40 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Cullman | 35 min |
| Jun 4, 12:48 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Blount | 47 min |
| Jun 4, 1:11 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lauderdale | 34 min |
| Jun 4, 1:21 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Madison | 49 min |
| Jun 4, 1:32 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Blount | 33 min |
| Jun 4, 1:37 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Cullman | 48 min |
| Jun 4, 1:48 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Etowah | 47 min |
| Jun 4, 1:52 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Cullman | 3 hr |
| Jun 4, 2:21 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Franklin | 2 hr |
| Jun 4, 2:24 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Blount | 66 min |
| Jun 4, 2:29 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Blount, Cherokee, Etowah | 3 hr |
| Jun 4, 2:53 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Cherokee | 47 min |
| Jun 4, 3:47 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Cullman, Winston | 2 hr |
| Jun 4, 4:39 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Cherokee, Etowah | 46 min |
| Jun 4, 6:26 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Shelby | 34 min |
| Jun 4, 6:58 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Shelby, Talladega | 32 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.