Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 618, NWS Birmingham, AL

July 23, 1998Colbert County, Lauderdale County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 23, 1998, 4:41 PM CDT for Colbert County, Lauderdale County, Alabama. It was in force for 49 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
Jul 23, 1998, 4:41 PM CDT (21:41 UTC)
Expired
Jul 23, 1998, 5:30 PM CDT
In force
49 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

Counties Colbert County, AL, Lauderdale County, AL

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jul 23, 4:45 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 50Florence, ALSeveral trees were down in the Petersville area.

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

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 12:00Z, 9.7 hours before the alert went out and 180 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 1998-07-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1857 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 1998-07-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 56 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
1857 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-13 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
644 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
56 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
52 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

434 
WUUS1 KBHM 232143 RRA
SVRBHM
ALC033-077-232230-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
441 PM CDT THU JUL 23 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 530 PM CDT

* AT 439 PM CDT... A BAND OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WAS SHOWN...BY
WEATHER RADAR NEAR THE FLORENCE AREA MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 20 MPH.  WIND
GUSTS TO 60 MPH ARE POSSIBLE.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE NEAR MUSCLE SHOALS BY 5 PM.

DAMAGING WINDS AND HEAVY RAIN 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.

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.