Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 613, NWS Birmingham, AL

July 20, 1998Lee County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 20, 1998, 4:42 PM CDT for Lee County, Alabama. It was in force for 33 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, 4:42 PM CDT (21:42 UTC)
Expired
Jul 20, 1998, 5:15 PM CDT
In force
33 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Lee County, AL

The nearest sounding before it

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 12:00Z, 9.7 hours before the alert went out and 117 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, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 12:00Z on 1998-07-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 304 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, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 12:00Z on 1998-07-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 7 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
304 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-193 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1130 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
15 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
7 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-14 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 202142 RRA
SVRBHM
ALC081-202215-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  LEE COUNTY... IN EAST CENTRAL ALABAMA

* UNTIL 515 PM CDT

* AT 441 PM CDT... A BAND OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WERE SHOWN...BY
WEATHER RADAR OVER THE EASTERN PART OF LEE COUNTY.  DAMAGING WINDS
WERE IN"DICATED IN THE AUBURN/OPELIKA AREAS.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL AFFECT MOST LOCATIONS ACROSS THE
COUNTY.

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

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, Jul 20, 11:49 AM CDT, 4 hours 53 minutes before
ALZ001>050-GAZ089-090-102-120-210445-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
FOR NORTH/CENTRAL AL AND WEST CENTRAL GA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
1149 AM CDT MON JUL 20 1998

THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEVELOPED ALONG AN OUTFLOW BOUNDARY IN
TENNESSEE AND WILL MOVE INTO NORTH ALABAMA THIS AFTERNOON.  A FEW
STORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE OVER NORTH AND CENTRAL ALABAMA BY MID-
AFTERNOON.  THERE WILL BE A THREAT OF LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS
WITH SOME OF THE STORMS.

STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL SHOULD REMAIN ALERT
FOR CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND MONITOR NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR
LOCAL TV AND RADIO FOR POSSIBLE WARNINGS LATER TODAY. 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/
Special weather statement, Jul 20, 11:49 AM CDT, 4 hours 53 minutes before
ALZ001>050-GAZ089-090-102-120-210445-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
FOR NORTH/CENTRAL AL AND WEST CENTRAL GA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
1149 AM CDT MON JUL 20 1998

THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEVELOPED ALONG AN OUTFLOW BOUNDARY IN
TENNESSEE AND WILL MOVE INTO NORTH ALABAMA THIS AFTERNOON.  A FEW
STORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE OVER NORTH AND CENTRAL ALABAMA BY MID-
AFTERNOON.  THERE WILL BE A THREAT OF LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS
WITH SOME OF THE STORMS.

STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL SHOULD REMAIN ALERT
FOR CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND MONITOR NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR
LOCAL TV AND RADIO FOR POSSIBLE WARNINGS LATER TODAY. 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
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, 4:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFayette35 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, 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.