Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 562, NWS Birmingham, AL

June 20, 1998DeKalb County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 20, 1998, 5:03 PM CDT for DeKalb County, Alabama. It was in force for 47 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, 5:03 PM CDT (22:03 UTC)
Expired
Jun 20, 1998, 5:50 PM CDT
In force
47 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County DeKalb County, AL

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jun 20, 5:05 PM CDTHail 0.75Ft Payne, ALDime size hail was reported in Fort Payne.

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, 10.1 hours before the alert went out and 168 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 1998-06-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1738 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 1998-06-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 28 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
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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

355 
WUUS1 KBHM 202203 RRB
SVRBHM
ALC049-202250-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  DEKALB COUNTY... IN NORTHERN ALABAMA

* UNTIL 550 PM CDT

* AT 501 PM CDT... A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS SHOWN...BY WEATHER RADAR
JUST ENTERING THE NORTHWEST SECTIONS OF DEKALB COUNTY NEAR HENAGAR.
NICKEL SIZE HAIL WAS REPORTED WITH THIS STORM.  THE STORM WAS MOVING
SOUTHEAST AT 10 TO 20 MPH.

DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL ARE LIKELY. GO INSIDE A STURDY BUILDING
AND STAY 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.

&

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, 3:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXColbert35 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, 5:09 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.