Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1998
Tornado Warning 18, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Apr 3, 1998, 3:15 PM CST for DeKalb County, Alabama. It was in force for 50 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
- Apr 3, 1998, 3:15 PM CST (21:15 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 3, 1998, 4:05 PM CST
- In force
- 50 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
County DeKalb County, AL
The watch it was issued in
The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 3, 1:00 PM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 9.3 hours before the alert went out and 168 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 216 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -127 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 619 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 54 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 355 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 434 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.1
- Supercell composite
- 6.8
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
022 WFUS1 KBHM 032117 RRA TORBHM ALC049-032205- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 315 PM CST FRI APR 3 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM AL HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 405 PM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN NORTHERN ALABAMA ...NORTHERN DEKALB COUNTY... AT 313 PM CST... WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A TORNADO IN NORTHEAST JACKSON COUNTY NEAR PISGAH. THE TORNADO WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH AND WILL MOVE ACROSS NORTHERN DEKALB COUNTY...AFFECTING SUCH AREAS AS IDER AND THE I-59 WELCOME CENTER AREA. <<CALL TO ACTION>> IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO... THE SAFEST PLACE IS A BASEMENT. IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE... SEEK SAFETY IN AN INTERIOR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. USE BLANKETS... PILLOWS... OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY. AVOID WINDOWS.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 3, 12:24 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Sumter | 46 min |
| Apr 3, 1:23 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lamar | 32 min |
| Apr 3, 1:30 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Greene, Hale | 50 min |
| Apr 3, 1:40 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Marion | 45 min |
| Apr 3, 2:01 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Colbert, Lauderdale | 49 min |
| Apr 3, 2:09 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Bibb | 46 min |
| Apr 3, 2:49 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lauderdale | 16 min |
| Apr 3, 2:54 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Clay | 31 min |
| Apr 3, 2:29 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Jackson, Madison | 46 min |
| Apr 3, 2:40 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Barbour, Russell | 50 min |
| Apr 3, 2:58 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Russell | 47 min |
| Apr 3, 3:04 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Jackson | 36 min |
| Apr 3, 3:27 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Limestone | 48 min |
| Apr 3, 4:00 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lawrence | 50 min |
| Apr 3, 4:14 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Morgan | 36 min |
| Apr 3, 4:19 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Madison, Marshall | 31 min |
| Apr 3, 4:28 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Madison | 47 min |
| Apr 3, 4:32 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Limestone | 33 min |
| Apr 3, 4:47 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Jackson | 63 min |
| Apr 3, 5:27 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Marshall | 33 min |
| Apr 3, 5:47 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | DeKalb, Jackson | 63 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.