Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 635, NWS Birmingham, AL

July 31, 1998Bibb County, Shelby County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 31, 1998, 5:00 PM CDT for Bibb County, Shelby 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 31, 1998, 5:00 PM CDT (22:00 UTC)
Expired
Jul 31, 1998, 5:35 PM CDT
In force
35 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

Counties Bibb County, AL, Shelby County, AL

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 10.0 hours before the alert went out and 12 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 1998-07-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2203 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 1998-07-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 48 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
2203 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-59 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
942 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
48 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
88 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.4
Supercell composite
4.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBHM 312202
SVRBHM
ALC007-117-312235-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
500 PM CDT FRI JUL 31 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  NORTHEASTERN BIBB COUNTY... IN CENTRAL ALABAMA
  SOUTHWESTERN SHELBY COUNTY... IN CENTRAL ALABAMA

* UNTIL 535 PM CDT

* AT 459 PM CDT... A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS SHOWN...BY WEATHER RADAR
ALONG THE SHELBY-BIBB COUNTY LINE NEAR PIPER AND ALDRICH.  MOVEMENT
IS TO THE SOUTHEAST AT 10 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
Jul 30, 11:25 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLauderdale, Limestone60 min
Jul 31, 12:09 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXColbert51 min
Jul 31, 1:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPike34 min
Jul 31, 1:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBarbour48 min
Jul 31, 5:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXRandolph19 min
Jul 31, 6:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCoosa34 min
Jul 31, 6:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTallapoosa32 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.