Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Birmingham, AL

January 7, 1998Jackson County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Jan 7, 1998, 11:36 AM CST for Jackson County, Alabama. It was in force for 34 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, 11:36 AM CST (17:36 UTC)
Expired
Jan 7, 1998, 12:10 PM CST
In force
34 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Jackson County, AL

The nearest sounding before it

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 12:00Z, 5.6 hours before the alert went out and 160 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 1998-01-07Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 10 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 1998-01-07The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 61 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
10 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-31 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
552 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
53 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
61 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
108 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.

172 
WFUS1 KBHM 071738 RRA
TORBHM
ALC071-071810-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
1136 AM CST WED JAN 7 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM AL HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1210 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN NORTHERN ALABAMA

   ...JACKSON COUNTY...

AT 1136 AM CST...WEATHER RADAR CONTINUED TO SHOW A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM NEAR WOODVILE.  DOPPLER RADAR CONTINUES TO INDICATE THAT
A TORNADO MAY BE ASSOCIATED WITH THIS STORM.  THE STORM WAS MOVING
NORTH AT 45 TO 50 MPH.  THE STORM WILL AFFECT THE WOODVILLE...
TRENTON...SWAIN...AND HYTOP AREAS.

<<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, 10:43 AM CSTTornado WarningBMXEtowah17 min
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, 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.