Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 52, NWS Birmingham, AL

April 16, 1998Lamar County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Apr 16, 1998, 7:11 PM CDT for Lamar County, Alabama. It was in force for 49 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 16, 1998, 7:11 PM CDT (00:11 UTC)
Expired: Apr 16, 1998, 8:00 PM CDT
In force: 49 min
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL
Area: Whole counties

County Lamar County, AL

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Apr 16, 7:25 PM CDT	Tornado F1	Hightogy, AL	A small tornado began just west of CR 9 and the Star community along Yellow Creek and moved east-northeast ending at SR 17 at Hightogy. Numerous trees were snapped and uprooted. Several outbuildings, mostly barns, were damaged along with three houses in the
Apr 16, 7:30 PM CDT	Hail 1.75	Millport, AL	Golf ball size hail was reported in the southern 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.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Apr 16, 4:00 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 0.2 hours before the alert went out and 139 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: 1586 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 645 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 74 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 270 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 336 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 3.6
Supercell composite: 16.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

440 
WFUS1 KBHM 170009 RRA
TORBHM
ALC075-170100-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
711 PM CDT THU APR 16 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  LAMAR COUNTY... IN WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA

* UNTIL 800 PM CDT

* AT 709 PM CDT... A TORNADO WAS DETECTED...BY NATIONAL WEATHER
  SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR MOVING OUT OF MISSISSIPPI AND INTO LAMAR
COUNTY.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...MALLOY AT 715 PM CDT...
THEN VERNON AT 725 PM CDT.

GO TO THE BASEMENT OR A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR

DO NOT USE YOUR CAR TO OUTRUN A TORNADO. CARS ARE EASILY TOSSED
AROUND BY TORNADIC WINDS. IF YOU ARE CAUGHT IN THE PATH OF A
TORNADO... LEAVE THE CAR AND GO TO A STRONG BUILDING. IF NO
STRUCTURE IS NEARBY...SEEK SAFETY IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT. BE
MINDFUL OF RISING WATERS.

REMEMBER... A TORNADO WATCH MEANS THAT TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE IN
AND NEAR THE WATCH AREA. LARGE HAIL... DAMAGING WINDS... AND
TORRENTIAL RAINFALL MAY ALSO OCCUR. BE READY TO SEEK A PLACE OF
SAFETY IF A WARNING IS ISSUED FOR YOUR AREA.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 16, 7:01 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Lawrence	49 min
Apr 16, 7:01 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Colbert	34 min
Apr 16, 7:14 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Lauderdale	51 min
Apr 16, 7:35 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Fayette	45 min
Apr 16, 7:48 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Limestone	47 min
Apr 16, 8:03 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Walker	47 min
Apr 16, 8:14 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Madison	66 min
Apr 16, 8:29 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Jackson	61 min
Apr 16, 8:32 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Winston	48 min
Apr 16, 8:35 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Cullman	65 min
Apr 16, 8:36 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Limestone	34 min
Apr 16, 9:05 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Blount	60 min
Apr 16, 9:32 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Etowah	63 min
Apr 16, 9:34 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Jackson	36 min
Apr 16, 9:40 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Marshall	50 min
Apr 16, 9:43 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	St. Clair	32 min
Apr 16, 10:05 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Marshall	35 min
Apr 16, 10:06 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	DeKalb	64 min
Apr 16, 10:13 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Cherokee	47 min
Apr 16, 10:38 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Marshall	32 min
Apr 16, 11:07 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	DeKalb	48 min
Apr 16, 11:25 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Cherokee	50 min
Apr 17, 12:22 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Jefferson	48 min
Apr 17, 12:26 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Cherokee	44 min
Apr 17, 3:10 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Barbour	50 min
Apr 17, 6:08 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Barbour	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.