Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 26, NWS Birmingham, AL

April 8, 1998Elmore County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Apr 8, 1998, 6:45 PM CDT for Elmore County, Alabama. It was in force for 50 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
Apr 8, 1998, 6:45 PM CDT (23:45 UTC)
Expired
Apr 8, 1998, 7:35 PM CDT
In force
50 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Elmore County, AL

The radar

The Maxwell AFB radar (KMXX), 34 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:44 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Apr 8, 6:50 PM CDTHail 1.75Kent, ALGolf ball size hail was reported in the western part of the county.

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
Apr 8, 2:00 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 11.8 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 1998-04-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 880 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 1998-04-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 145 square meters per square second.1939587897117136Sfc1 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
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.

524 
WFUS1 KBHM 082346 RRA
TORBHM
ALC051-090035-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM AL HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 735 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN CENTRAL ALABAMA

   ...ELMORE COUNTY...

AT 644 PM CDT... WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A TORNADO THAT
WILL MOVE NORTHEAST TO NEAR JORDAN DAM BY 7:00 PM.

<<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
Apr 8, 10:09 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPike31 min
Apr 8, 10:25 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBarbour65 min
Apr 8, 10:47 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMontgomery48 min
Apr 8, 11:13 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXBarbour32 min
Apr 8, 11:20 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXDallas45 min
Apr 8, 12:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLee48 min
Apr 8, 12:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXAutauga51 min
Apr 8, 12:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXChambers45 min
Apr 8, 2:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMontgomery35 min
Apr 8, 3:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLee47 min
Apr 8, 4:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCalhoun35 min
Apr 8, 4:23 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCherokee47 min
Apr 8, 5:09 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXAutauga, Elmore51 min
Apr 8, 5:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCoosa, Tallapoosa48 min
Apr 8, 6:09 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXWalker, Winston46 min
Apr 8, 6:10 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXTallapoosa35 min
Apr 8, 6:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXChambers47 min
Apr 8, 6:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTuscaloosa47 min
Apr 8, 6:22 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXChambers48 min
Apr 8, 6:26 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXAutauga49 min
Apr 8, 6:26 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXPickens49 min
Apr 8, 6:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXColbert47 min
Apr 8, 6:31 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXWalker, Winston34 min
Apr 8, 6:33 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXWalker32 min
Apr 8, 6:38 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXChilton47 min
Apr 8, 6:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLauderdale50 min
Apr 8, 6:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCullman47 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.