Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 137, NWS Birmingham, AL

May 9, 1998Coosa County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at May 9, 1998, 9:50 PM CDT for Coosa County, Alabama. It was in force for 65 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
May 9, 1998, 9:50 PM CDT (02:50 UTC)
Expired
May 9, 1998, 10:55 PM CDT
In force
65 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Coosa County, AL

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 9, 7:00 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 2.8 hours before the alert went out and 57 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 00:00Z on 1998-05-10Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 213 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 00:00Z on 1998-05-10The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 241 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
213 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-309 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1398 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
70 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
241 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
355 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBHM 100250 RRA
TORBHM
ALC037-100355-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  COOSA COUNTY... IN CENTRAL ALABAMA

* UNTIL 1055 PM CDT

* AT 948 PM CDT... A TORNADO WAS DETECTED...BY NATIONAL WEATHER
SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR OVER NORTHERN CHILTON COUNTY MOVING EAST AT 45
MILES AN HOUR.  THIS STORM WILL MOVE INpTO THE LAY LAKE AREA THEN TO
THE MARBLE VALLEY AND UNITY AREAS.

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

The office that day

Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 9, 7:06 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXTuscaloosa69 min
May 9, 7:33 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXGreene62 min
May 9, 7:39 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXJefferson76 min
May 9, 7:41 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXPickens34 min
May 9, 7:48 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXSumter77 min
May 9, 7:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXWalker48 min
May 9, 8:09 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXTuscaloosa51 min
May 9, 8:24 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXHale61 min
May 9, 8:29 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXGreene36 min
May 9, 8:35 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXBibb65 min
May 9, 8:48 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXShelby77 min
May 9, 8:53 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXJefferson47 min
May 9, 9:22 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXChilton63 min
May 9, 9:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPickens50 min
May 9, 9:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTalladega47 min
May 9, 10:12 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTuscaloosa63 min
May 9, 11:22 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson63 min
May 9, 11:24 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXClay36 min
May 9, 11:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXRandolph50 min
May 9, 11:39 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXJefferson51 min
May 9, 11:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTuscaloosa47 min
May 9, 11:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSt. Clair50 min
May 10, 12:23 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson, Shelby62 min
May 10, 12:34 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCalhoun, Talladega66 min
May 10, 1:25 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCleburne45 min
May 10, 6:49 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXChambers31 min

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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.