Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Birmingham, AL

January 7, 1998Etowah County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Jan 7, 1998, 10:43 AM CST for Etowah County, Alabama. It was in force for 17 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
Jan 7, 1998, 10:43 AM CST (16:43 UTC)
Expired
Jan 7, 1998, 11:00 AM CST
In force
17 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Etowah County, AL

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 4.7 hours before the alert went out and 118 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 1998-01-07Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 214 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 12:00Z on 1998-01-07The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 257 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
214 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-9 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
576 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
62 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
257 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
363 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.3
Supercell composite
1.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

815 
WFUS1 KBHM 071645 RRA
TORBHM
ALC055-071700-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
1043 AM CST WED JAN 7 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM AL HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1100 AM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN NORTHERN ALABAMA

   ...WESTERN ETOWAH COUNTY...

AT 1042 AM CST... WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A POSSIBLE TORNADO ENTERING THE
EXTREME SOUTHWEST CORNER OF ETOWAH COUNTY MOVING NORTH AT 40 MPH IN
THE DIRECTION OF WALNUT GROVE AND CLAYBORN.


<<CALL TO ACTION>>
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE... SEEK SAFETY IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING. AS A LAST RESORT... SEEK REFUGE IN A CULVERT... DITCH OR
LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 7, 7:11 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarengo59 min
Jan 7, 8:30 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXFayette, Greene, Hale, Pickens, Tuscaloosa3 hr
Jan 7, 8:30 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXMarengo, Sumter3 hr
Jan 7, 8:30 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXLamar, Marion3 hr
Jan 7, 8:55 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXCullman, Lawrence6 hr
Jan 7, 8:55 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXLimestone6 hr
Jan 7, 8:55 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXMadison6 hr
Jan 7, 8:55 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXJefferson6 hr
Jan 7, 8:55 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXColbert, Franklin6 hr
Jan 7, 8:55 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXLauderdale6 hr
Jan 7, 8:55 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXBlount, Walker6 hr
Jan 7, 8:55 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXAutauga, Bibb, Chilton, Dallas, Perry, Shelby6 hr
Jan 7, 8:55 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXMorgan, Winston6 hr
Jan 7, 8:55 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXLowndes6 hr
Jan 7, 9:38 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson, Shelby62 min
Jan 7, 10:10 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXAutauga, Lowndes50 min
Jan 7, 10:25 AM CSTTornado WarningBMXSt. Clair50 min
Jan 7, 10:37 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXClay, Cleburne, Randolph6 hr
Jan 7, 10:37 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXCalhoun, Cherokee, DeKalb, Etowah, Marshall, St. Clair6 hr
Jan 7, 10:37 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXTalladega6 hr
Jan 7, 10:37 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXJackson6 hr
Jan 7, 10:53 AM CSTTornado WarningBMXMarshall47 min
Jan 7, 11:22 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXGreene, Hale, Marengo, Tuscaloosa4 hr
Jan 7, 11:22 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXPickens, Sumter4 hr
Jan 7, 11:22 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXFayette, Lamar, Marion4 hr
Jan 7, 11:36 AM CSTTornado WarningBMXJackson34 min
Jan 7, 12:13 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTallapoosa47 min
Jan 7, 12:25 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXBarbour, Lee, Macon, Russell2 hr
Jan 7, 12:25 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXChambers, Tallapoosa2 hr
Jan 7, 12:25 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXPike2 hr
Jan 7, 12:47 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBarbour48 min
Jan 7, 12:58 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXRussell47 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.