Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 652, NWS Birmingham, AL

August 31, 1998Jefferson County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 31, 1998, 2:36 PM CDT for Jefferson County, Alabama. It was in force for 34 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
Aug 31, 1998, 2:36 PM CDT (19:36 UTC)
Expired
Aug 31, 1998, 3:10 PM CDT
In force
34 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Jefferson County, AL

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Aug 31, 2:45 PM CDTHail 0.75Hueytown, ALDime size hail was reported in Hueytown.

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, 7.6 hours before the alert went out and 43 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 1998-08-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1082 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 1998-08-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 17 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
1082 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-60 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1082 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
17 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
19 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 311936 RRA
SVRBHM
ALC073-312010-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
236 PM CDT MON AUG 31 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  JEFFERSON COUNTY... IN CENTRAL ALABAMA

* UNTIL 310 PM CDT

* AT 234 PM CDT... A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS SHOWN...BY WEATHER RADAR
OVER SOUTHWEST JEFFERSON COUNTY NEAR BESSEMER. THE STORM WAS MOVING
EAST SOUTHEAST AT 15 TO 20 MPH.

DAMAGING WINDS AND HEAVY RAIN 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, Aug 31, 9:45 AM CDT, 4 hours 51 minutes before
ALZ001>050-GAZ089-090-102-120-312100-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR
NORTH AND CENTRAL ALABAMA AND ADJACENT PORTIONS OF WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM ALABAMA
945 AM CDT MON AUG 31 1998

TYPICAL WIDELY SCATTERED AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TODAY.
ONE OR TWO MAY PRODUCE GUSTY WINDS AND SMALL HAIL BUT SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS ARE NOT FORECAST.

ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMA PERSONNEL SHOULD NOT BE REQUIRED
TODAY OR TONIGHT.

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.