Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 552, NWS Birmingham, AL

June 20, 1998Colbert County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 20, 1998, 3:55 PM CDT for Colbert County, Alabama. It was in force for 35 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 20, 1998, 3:55 PM CDT (20:55 UTC)
Expired
Jun 20, 1998, 4:30 PM CDT
In force
35 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Colbert County, AL

The nearest sounding before it

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 12:00Z, 8.9 hours before the alert went out and 193 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 1998-06-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 801 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 1998-06-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 74 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
801 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-115 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1085 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
15 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
74 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
84 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 202055 RRA
SVRBHM
ALC033-202130-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
355 PM CDT SAT JUN 20 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  EASTERN COLBERT COUNTY... IN NORTHERN ALABAMA

* UNTIL 430 PM CDT

* AT 354 PM CDT... A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS SHOWN BY WEATHER RADAR
NEAR MUSCLE SHOALS MOVING EAST AT 15 MPH.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM! STAY INDOORS AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING... PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A
STRONG BUILDING. DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS. DO NOT USE TELEPHONES OR
ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL THE STORM HAS
PASSED. MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE INTO LOW WATER CROSSINGS.

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 58 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.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 20, 1:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBlount, Cullman48 min
Jun 20, 2:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXChilton31 min
Jun 20, 3:09 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXShelby36 min
Jun 20, 3:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLimestone, Madison34 min
Jun 20, 3:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXElmore32 min
Jun 20, 3:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTuscaloosa35 min
Jun 20, 3:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXDallas33 min
Jun 20, 4:05 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLauderdale35 min
Jun 20, 4:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMadison33 min
Jun 20, 4:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJackson48 min
Jun 20, 4:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLowndes50 min
Jun 20, 4:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXColbert49 min
Jun 20, 4:33 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMontgomery47 min
Jun 20, 4:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTallapoosa35 min
Jun 20, 4:55 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXColbert2 hr
Jun 20, 5:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBullock, Macon47 min
Jun 20, 5:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXDeKalb47 min
Jun 20, 5:09 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXClay51 min
Jun 20, 5:14 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXMontgomery21 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.