Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 405, NWS Birmingham, AL

June 4, 1998Shelby County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 4, 1998, 6:26 PM CDT for Shelby County, Alabama. It was in force for 34 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, 6:26 PM CDT (23:26 UTC)
Expired
Jun 4, 1998, 7:00 PM CDT
In force
34 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Shelby County, AL

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 11.4 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 1998-06-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1942 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 1998-06-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 91 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
1942 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-26 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
615 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
91 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
54 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.9
Supercell composite
5.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

544 
WUUS1 KBHM 042329 RRA
SVRBHM
ALC117-050000-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
626 PM CDT THU JUN 4 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  SHELBY COUNTY... IN CENTRAL ALABAMA

* UNTIL 700 PM CDT

* AT 624 PM CDT... A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS SHOWN...BY WEATHER RADAR
OVER NORTHERN SHELBY COUNTY...NEAR HELENA AND PELHAM.  THIS STORM WAS
MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH...AND WILL AFFECT PELHAM AND THE REMAINDER
OF EXTREME NORTHERN SHELBY COUNTY DURING THE NEXT 30 MINUTES

DAMAGING WINDS AND HEAVY RAIN ARE LIKELY. GO INSIDE A STURDY BUILDING
AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS

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, 6:08 PM CDT, 18 minutes before
ALZ001>010-014-016>018-020-042340-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
608 PM CDT THU JUN 4 1998

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAS BEEN CANCELLED FOR THE FOLLOWING
COUNTIES...

IN ALABAMA

   ...LAUDERDALE... COLBERT... FRANKLIN... LAWRENCE... LIMESTONE
   ...MADISON... MORGAN... MARSHALL... JACKSON... DEKALB... WINSTON
   ...CULLMAN... BLOUNT... ETOWAH... CHEROKEE
Special weather statement, Jun 4, 6:08 PM CDT, 18 minutes before
ALZ001>010-014-016>018-020-042340-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
608 PM CDT THU JUN 4 1998

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAS BEEN CANCELLED FOR THE FOLLOWING
COUNTIES...

IN ALABAMA

   ...LAUDERDALE... COLBERT... FRANKLIN... LAWRENCE... LIMESTONE
   ...MADISON... MORGAN... MARSHALL... JACKSON... DEKALB... WINSTON
   ...CULLMAN... BLOUNT... ETOWAH... CHEROKEE

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 4, 12:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCullman35 min
Jun 4, 12:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBlount47 min
Jun 4, 1:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCherokee47 min
Jun 4, 1:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLauderdale34 min
Jun 4, 1:21 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMadison49 min
Jun 4, 1:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBlount33 min
Jun 4, 1:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCullman48 min
Jun 4, 1:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXEtowah47 min
Jun 4, 1:52 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXCullman3 hr
Jun 4, 2:21 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXFranklin2 hr
Jun 4, 2:24 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBlount66 min
Jun 4, 2:29 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXBlount, Cherokee, Etowah3 hr
Jun 4, 2:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCherokee47 min
Jun 4, 3:47 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXCullman, Winston2 hr
Jun 4, 4:39 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCherokee, Etowah46 min
Jun 4, 6:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXShelby, Talladega32 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.