Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 52, NWS Birmingham, AL

March 6, 1998Winston County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 6, 1998, 3:49 PM CST for Winston County, Alabama. It was in force for 26 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
Mar 6, 1998, 3:49 PM CST (21:49 UTC)
Expired
Mar 6, 1998, 4:15 PM CST
In force
26 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Winston County, AL

The radar

The Columbus AFB radar (KGWX), 92 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:51 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 9.8 hours before the alert went out and 121 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 1998-03-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 8 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 1998-03-06The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 99 square meters per square second.1939587897117136156Sfc1 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
8 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-339 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
688 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
51 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
99 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
154 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBHM 062149 RRA
SVRBHM
ALC133-062215-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
349 PM CST FRI MAR 6 1998
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  415 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTH ALABAMA
 
   ...EASTERN WINSTON COUNTY
 
AT 345 PM...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER WINSTON
COUNTY NEAR DOUBLE SPRINGS. DIME SIZE HAIL WAS REPORTED WITH THIS STORM
BY THE WINSTON COUNTY EMA OFFICE. THE STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25
MPH.
 
 
 
 
&

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, Mar 6, 3:15 PM CST, 34 minutes before
ALZALL-FLZ001>015-GAZ089-090-102-120-070000-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
315 PM CST FRI MAR 06 1998

...SEVERE WEATHER POSSIBLE ACROSS ALABAMA...NORTHWEST FLORIDA AND
PORTIONS OF WEST-CENTRAL GEORGIA THROUGHOUT THE WEEKEND...

A DEVELOPING LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM OVER THE WESTERN U.S. WILL INTENSIFY
AND MOVE RAPIDLY EASTWARD TONIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT...THEN MOVE
INTO THE STATE BY EARLY SUNDAY MORNING.  A STRONG LOW LEVEL JET
COUPLED WITH FAVORABLE UPPER FEATURES AND WARM MOIST AIR WILL ALLOW
THE AIR MASS ACROSS THE AREA TO BECOME VERY UNSTABLE.  STRONG TO
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ACROSS THE AREA FROM
MAINLY SATURDAY AFTERNOON INTO EARLY SUNDAY MORNING.  IN ADDITION TO
THE SEVERE WEATHER THREAT...HEAVY RAINFALL WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE.

THIS STATEMENT IS BEING PROVIDED TO ALLOW EMERGENCY MANAGERS...LOCAL
LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS...OTHER EMERGENCY PERSONNEL AND LOCAL POWER
COMPANY PERSONNEL TIME TO MAKE SOME NECESSARY CONTINGENCY PLANS AND
ALLOCATE MANPOWER AS NECESSARY.

FURTHER STATEMENTS WILL BE ISSUED EARLY SATURDAY MORNING AS MORE DATA
BECOMES AVAILABLE AND THE SITUATION BEGINS TO UNFOLD.
Special weather statement, Mar 6, 3:15 PM CST, 34 minutes before
ALZALL-FLZ001>015-GAZ089-090-102-120-070000-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
315 PM CST FRI MAR 06 1998

...SEVERE WEATHER POSSIBLE ACROSS ALABAMA...NORTHWEST FLORIDA AND
PORTIONS OF WEST-CENTRAL GEORGIA THROUGHOUT THE WEEKEND...

A DEVELOPING LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM OVER THE WESTERN U.S. WILL INTENSIFY
AND MOVE RAPIDLY EASTWARD TONIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT...THEN MOVE
INTO THE STATE BY EARLY SUNDAY MORNING.  A STRONG LOW LEVEL JET
COUPLED WITH FAVORABLE UPPER FEATURES AND WARM MOIST AIR WILL ALLOW
THE AIR MASS ACROSS THE AREA TO BECOME VERY UNSTABLE.  STRONG TO
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ACROSS THE AREA FROM
MAINLY SATURDAY AFTERNOON INTO EARLY SUNDAY MORNING.  IN ADDITION TO
THE SEVERE WEATHER THREAT...HEAVY RAINFALL WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE.

THIS STATEMENT IS BEING PROVIDED TO ALLOW EMERGENCY MANAGERS...LOCAL
LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS...OTHER EMERGENCY PERSONNEL AND LOCAL POWER
COMPANY PERSONNEL TIME TO MAKE SOME NECESSARY CONTINGENCY PLANS AND
ALLOCATE MANPOWER AS NECESSARY.

FURTHER STATEMENTS WILL BE ISSUED EARLY SATURDAY MORNING AS MORE DATA
BECOMES AVAILABLE AND THE SITUATION BEGINS TO UNFOLD.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 5, 11:34 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarion51 min
Mar 6, 12:21 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLamar, Pickens64 min
Mar 6, 1:13 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFayette, Tuscaloosa62 min
Mar 6, 1:49 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLamar61 min
Mar 6, 2:45 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFayette, Pickens, Tuscaloosa45 min
Mar 6, 4:10 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTalladega35 min
Mar 6, 4:27 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCoosa, Tallapoosa48 min
Mar 6, 4:38 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLamar32 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.