Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 25, NWS Birmingham, AL

April 8, 1998Walker County, Winston County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Apr 8, 1998, 6:31 PM CDT for Walker County, Winston County, Alabama. It was in force for 34 min. 2 reports 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: Apr 8, 1998, 6:31 PM CDT (23:31 UTC)
Expired: Apr 8, 1998, 7:05 PM CDT
In force: 34 min
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL
Area: Whole counties

Counties Walker County, AL, Winston County, AL

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Apr 8, 6:50 PM CDT	Hail 1.75	Good Spgs, AL	Golf ball size hail was reported in Goodsprings, in the southern part of the county.
Apr 8, 6:50 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 50	Arley, AL	There were several trees reported down and porches were blown off a few lake homes in the area along Smith Lake southeast of Arley.

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.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Apr 8, 2:00 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 11.5 hours before the alert went out and 102 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 880 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -44 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 505 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 59 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 145 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 161 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.7
Supercell composite: 3.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

465 
WFUS1 KBHM 082332 RRA
TORBHM
ALC127-133-090005-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
631 PM CDT WED APR 8 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM AL HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 705 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...

IN CENTRAL ALABAMA

   ...NORTHERN WALKER COUNTY...

IN NORTHERN ALABAMA

   ...WINSTON COUNTY...

AT 630 PM CDT... WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A POSSIBLE TORNADO NEAR THE
CARBON HILL AREA...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MILES PER HOUR.


<<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 8, 10:09 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Pike	31 min
Apr 8, 10:25 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Barbour	65 min
Apr 8, 10:47 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Montgomery	48 min
Apr 8, 11:13 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Barbour	32 min
Apr 8, 11:20 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Dallas	45 min
Apr 8, 12:07 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Lee	48 min
Apr 8, 12:14 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Autauga	51 min
Apr 8, 12:20 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Chambers	45 min
Apr 8, 2:20 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Montgomery	35 min
Apr 8, 3:18 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Lee	47 min
Apr 8, 4:10 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Calhoun	35 min
Apr 8, 4:23 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Cherokee	47 min
Apr 8, 5:09 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Autauga, Elmore	51 min
Apr 8, 5:37 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Coosa, Tallapoosa	48 min
Apr 8, 6:09 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Walker, Winston	46 min
Apr 8, 6:10 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Tallapoosa	35 min
Apr 8, 6:13 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Chambers	47 min
Apr 8, 6:13 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Tuscaloosa	47 min
Apr 8, 6:22 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Chambers	48 min
Apr 8, 6:26 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Autauga	49 min
Apr 8, 6:26 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Pickens	49 min
Apr 8, 6:28 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Colbert	47 min
Apr 8, 6:33 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Walker	32 min
Apr 8, 6:38 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Chilton	47 min
Apr 8, 6:45 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Lauderdale	50 min
Apr 8, 6:45 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Elmore	50 min
Apr 8, 6:58 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Cullman	47 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Alabama, 1998 Every tornado warning in 1998 Tornadoes 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.