Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 607, NWS Birmingham, AL

July 20, 1998Fayette County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 20, 1998, 4:00 PM CDT for Fayette 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
Jul 20, 1998, 4:00 PM CDT (21:00 UTC)
Expired
Jul 20, 1998, 4:35 PM CDT
In force
35 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Fayette County, AL

The radar

The Columbus AFB radar (KGWX), 58 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:59 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, 9.0 hours before the alert went out and 107 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 1998-07-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 9 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 1998-07-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -3 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
9 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-292 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1164 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
12 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-3 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-4 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.

446 
WUUS1 KBHM 202101 RRA
SVRBHM
ALC057-202135-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
400 PM CDT MON JUL 20 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  FAYETTE COUNTY... IN WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA

* UNTIL 435 PM CDT

* AT 400 PM CDT... A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS SHOWN...BY WEATHER
RADAR...NEAR CONCORD...AND ANOTHER SEVERE STORM NEAR HOWARD.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING WEST NEAR 10 MPH.

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

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 20, 12:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson34 min
Jul 20, 2:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXShelby34 min
Jul 20, 2:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMadison32 min
Jul 20, 2:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXEtowah, Marshall48 min
Jul 20, 2:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPerry35 min
Jul 20, 2:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXClay32 min
Jul 20, 3:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBibb, Hale, Tuscaloosa33 min
Jul 20, 3:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXShelby32 min
Jul 20, 3:24 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFayette36 min
Jul 20, 3:34 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXGreene, Hale, Tuscaloosa46 min
Jul 20, 3:38 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXDallas, Lowndes32 min
Jul 20, 3:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCullman33 min
Jul 20, 3:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXRandolph36 min
Jul 20, 3:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarshall, Morgan35 min
Jul 20, 3:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTalladega36 min
Jul 20, 4:04 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXDallas46 min
Jul 20, 4:05 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXWalker35 min
Jul 20, 4:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCalhoun35 min
Jul 20, 4:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarion, Winston47 min
Jul 20, 4:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXChambers33 min
Jul 20, 4:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLee33 min
Jul 20, 5:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLamar, Marion48 min
Jul 20, 5:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXWinston48 min
Jul 20, 5:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarengo35 min
Jul 20, 5:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTallapoosa35 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.