Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 124, NWS Birmingham, AL

May 9, 1998Pickens County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at May 9, 1998, 6:28 PM CDT for Pickens County, Alabama. It was in force for 77 min. 6 reports 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
May 9, 1998, 6:28 PM CDT (23:28 UTC)
Expired
May 9, 1998, 7:45 PM CDT
In force
77 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Pickens County, AL

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 9, 7:09 PM CDTTornado F0Carrollton, ALA weak tornado touched down northwest of Carrollton and uprooted and snapped several trees. The tornado actually moved across the Pickens County Hospital on the north side of Carrollton on SR 17. Minor roof damage was done at the hospital but there were a nu
May 9, 7:10 PM CDTHail 1.75Reform, ALGolf ball size hail was reported in Reform by the EMA.
May 9, 7:20 PM CDTHail 1.75Gordo, ALGolf ball size hail was reported by storm spotters, near US 82 and SR 86.
May 9, 7:20 PM CDTTornado F0Gordo, AL
May 9, 7:45 PM CDTHail 1.75Aliceville, ALGolf ball size hail was reported in Aliceville by the EMA.
May 9, 7:45 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 60Aliceville, ALNumerous trees were down on the south side of Aliceville.

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, 11.5 hours before the alert went out and 122 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 1998-05-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 1998-05-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -22 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1345 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
74 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-22 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
43 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.

409 
WFUS1 KBHM 092328 RRA
TORBHM
ALC107-100045-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
628 PM CDT SAT MAY 9 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  PICKENS COUNTY... IN WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA

* UNTIL 745 PM CDT

* AT 624 PM CDT... A TORNADO WAS DETECTED...BY NATIONAL WEATHER
SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR ABOUT 10 MILES WEST OF THE ALABAMA LINE MOVING
EAST 40 MILES AN HOUR.  THIS TORNADO IS EXPECTED JUST NORTH
OF PICKENSVILLE THEN AFFECT ETHELSVILLE...REFORM...AND GORDO.  THIS
IS A DANGEROUS STORM.  TAKE COVER

GO TO THE BASEMENT OR A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Alabama, 1998Every tornado warning in 1998Tornadoes 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.