Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 548, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 20, 1998, 3:09 PM CDT for Shelby County, Alabama. It was in force for 36 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
- Jun 20, 1998, 3:09 PM CDT (20:09 UTC)
- Expired
- Jun 20, 1998, 3:45 PM CDT
- In force
- 36 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Shelby County, AL
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 20, 3:09 PM CDT | Hail 0.88 | Chelsea, AL | Dime to nickel size hail was reported at Inverness on US 280. |
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 nearest sounding before it
Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 8.2 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1738 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -85 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1080 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 6 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 28 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 34 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KBHM 202009 RRA SVRBHM ALC117-202045- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 309 PM CDT SAT JUN 20 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... NORTHERN SHELBY COUNTY... IN CENTRAL ALABAMA * UNTIL 345 PM CDT * AT 308 PM CDT... A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS SHOWN...BY WEATHER RADAR ALONG THE SHELBY - JEFFERSON COUNTY BORDER NEAR HOOVER MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 15 MPH. NICKEL SIZE HAIL WAS REPORTED. THIS STORM HAS A HISTORY OF LARGE HAIL. GO INSIDE A STURDY BUILDING AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS! IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE... SEEK REFUGE FROM THE STORM IN A STRONG BUILDING. BOATERS ON AREA LAKES SHOULD TAKE SHELTER. DAMAGING WIND... LARGE HAIL... VERY HEAVY RAIN... AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE ALL LIKELY. DO NOT SEEK SHELTER UNDER TREES OR OTHER ISOLATED TALL OBJECTS. THESE ATTRACT LIGHTNING. DO NOT DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.
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 20, 9:57 AM CDT, 5 hours 12 minutes before
ALZ001>050-GAZ089-090-102-120-210255- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR NORTH/CENTRAL AL AND WEST CENTRAL GA NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 957 AM CDT SAT JUN 20 1998 AN UNSTABLE AIR MASS REMAINS ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA AND A THUNDERSTORM COMPLEX IN TENNESSEE IS DRIFTING SOUTHEAST. SOME WEAK UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCES ARE ALSO EXPECTED TO PASS OVER THE STATE. THESE ALL COMBINE TO PROVIDE A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE STATE. HOWEVER MOST SHOULD NOT REACH SEVERE LIMITS. ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL SHOULD NOT BE NECESSARY. 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 20, 1:27 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Blount, Cullman | 48 min |
| Jun 20, 2:44 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Chilton | 31 min |
| Jun 20, 3:31 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Limestone, Madison | 34 min |
| Jun 20, 3:43 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Elmore | 32 min |
| Jun 20, 3:45 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Tuscaloosa | 35 min |
| Jun 20, 3:55 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Colbert | 35 min |
| Jun 20, 3:57 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Dallas | 33 min |
| Jun 20, 4:05 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lauderdale | 35 min |
| Jun 20, 4:07 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Madison | 33 min |
| Jun 20, 4:07 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Jackson | 48 min |
| Jun 20, 4:15 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lowndes | 50 min |
| Jun 20, 4:31 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Colbert | 49 min |
| Jun 20, 4:33 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Montgomery | 47 min |
| Jun 20, 4:50 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Tallapoosa | 35 min |
| Jun 20, 4:55 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Colbert | 2 hr |
| Jun 20, 5:03 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Bullock, Macon | 47 min |
| Jun 20, 5:03 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | DeKalb | 47 min |
| Jun 20, 5:09 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Clay | 51 min |
| Jun 20, 5:14 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Montgomery | 21 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.