Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 139, NWS Birmingham, AL

May 10, 1998Chambers County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at May 10, 1998, 6:49 AM CDT for Chambers County, Alabama. It was in force for 31 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 10, 1998, 6:49 AM CDT (11:49 UTC)
Expired
May 10, 1998, 7:20 AM CDT
In force
31 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Chambers County, AL

The nearest sounding before it

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 00:00Z, 11.8 hours before the alert went out and 97 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, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 00:00Z on 1998-05-10Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 37 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, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 00:00Z on 1998-05-10The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 34 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
37 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-470 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1589 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
62 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
34 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
145 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.

779 
WFUS1 KBHM 101150 RRA
TORBHM
ALC017-101220-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
649 AM CDT SUN MAY 10 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHERN CHAMBERS COUNTY... IN EAST CENTRAL ALABAMA

* UNTIL 720 AM CDT

* AT 647 AM CDT...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS DETECTED...BY NATIONAL
  WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR OVER SOUTHWEST CHAMBERS COUNTY JUST
  NORTH OF WAVERLY.  DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED THAT A TORNADO MAY BE
  ASSOCIATED OR PRODUCED WITH/BY THIS STORM.  THE STORM WAS MOVING
  EAST AT 35 TO 40   MPH.

* THE STORM WILL AFFECT COMMUNITIES ACROSS THE SOUTHERN PART OF THE
  COUNTY AND INTO THE CUSSETA AND FAIRFAX AREAS.

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

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado 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, May 10, 2:34 AM CDT, 4 hours 15 minutes before
ALZ001>011-013>021-023-024-026-100755-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
234 AM CDT SUN MAY 10 1998

THE TORNADO WATCH HAS BEEN CANCELLED FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...

IN ALABAMA

   ...LAUDERDALE... COLBERT... FRANKLIN... LAWRENCE... LIMESTONE
   ...MADISON... MORGAN... MARSHALL... JACKSON... DEKALB... MARION
   ...FAYETTE... WINSTON... WALKER... CULLMAN... BLOUNT... ETOWAH
   ...CALHOUN... CHEROKEE... CLEBURNE... TUSCALOOSA... JEFFERSON
   ...ST. CLAIR
Special weather statement, May 10, 5:00 AM CDT, 1 hour 49 minutes before
ALZ025-027>029-032>048-GAZ089-090-101020-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
500 AM CDT SUN MAY 10 1998

TORNADO WATCH 325 AND 326 HAVE EXPIRED.  NO WATCHES OR WARNINGS ARE IN
EFFECT IN ALABAMA OR WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA.

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, 9:50 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXCoosa65 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

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.