Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 173, NWS Birmingham, AL

September 28, 1998Elmore County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Sep 28, 1998, 5:03 PM CDT for Elmore County, Alabama. It was in force for 32 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
Sep 28, 1998, 5:03 PM CDT (22:03 UTC)
Expired
Sep 28, 1998, 5:35 PM CDT
In force
32 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Elmore County, AL

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Sep 28, 5:19 PM CDTTornado F0Wetumpka, ALA tornado moved northwest across western Elmore county from just northeast of Wetumka to just northwest of the Wallsboro community. Some minor damage was reported at the Julia Tutwiler Prison . Trees and power lines were down in Wallsboro and a doctor's offic

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 watch it was issued in

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

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Sep 28, 3:00 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC10 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 10.1 hours before the alert went out and 88 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 1998-09-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 354 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 1998-09-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -28 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
354 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-118 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
817 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-28 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-30 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.

742 
WFUS1 KBHM 282204 RRA
TORBHM
ALC051-282235-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
503 PM CDT MON SEP 28 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 535 PM CDT

* AT 502 PM CDT... A TORNADO WAS DETECTED...BY NATIONAL WEATHER
  SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR 8 MILES SOUTH OF TALLASSEE.

THIS THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING NORTH-NORTHWEST AT 50 MPH.

IF YOU ARE IN A MULTIPLE STORY BUILDING...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM
AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 28, 1:35 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXPike40 min
Sep 28, 1:55 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXBarbour20 min
Sep 28, 2:10 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXPike35 min
Sep 28, 2:30 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXBullock35 min
Sep 28, 2:34 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXLowndes36 min
Sep 28, 2:43 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXBarbour17 min
Sep 28, 3:02 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXBullock33 min
Sep 28, 3:16 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXBarbour19 min
Sep 28, 3:31 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXBullock34 min
Sep 28, 3:36 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXPike34 min
Sep 28, 4:02 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXMacon33 min
Sep 28, 4:15 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXBullock40 min
Sep 28, 4:20 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXRussell35 min
Sep 28, 4:30 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXElmore35 min
Sep 28, 4:34 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXMacon36 min
Sep 28, 4:49 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXBullock36 min
Sep 28, 5:12 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXMacon, Montgomery33 min
Sep 28, 5:20 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXLee, Russell30 min
Sep 28, 5:38 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXElmore32 min
Sep 28, 5:53 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXBarbour32 min
Sep 28, 5:56 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXBarbour34 min
Sep 28, 6:19 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXRussell31 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.