Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 63, NWS Birmingham, AL

April 16, 1998St. Clair County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Apr 16, 1998, 9:43 PM CDT for St. Clair County, Alabama. It was in force for 32 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
Apr 16, 1998, 9:43 PM CDT (02:43 UTC)
Expired
Apr 16, 1998, 10:15 PM CDT
In force
32 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County St. Clair County, AL

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Apr 16, 9:15 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 2.7 hours before the alert went out and 74 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 00:00Z on 1998-04-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1586 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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 00:00Z on 1998-04-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 270 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
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.

364 
WFUS1 KBHM 170242 RRA
TORBHM
ALC115-170315-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  EXTREME NORTHERN ST. CLAIR COUNTY... IN CENTRAL ALABAMA

* UNTIL 1015 PM CDT

* AT 942 PM CDT... A TORNADO WAS DETECTED...BY NATIONAL WEATHER
  SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR NEAR HORSE PENS 40 MOVING EAST AT 40 MILES AN
HOUR.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO MOVE INTO EXTREME NORTHERN SAINT CLAIR
COUNTY.

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

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 16, 7:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLawrence49 min
Apr 16, 7:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXColbert34 min
Apr 16, 7:11 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXLamar49 min
Apr 16, 7:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLauderdale51 min
Apr 16, 7:35 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXFayette45 min
Apr 16, 7:48 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXLimestone47 min
Apr 16, 8:03 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXWalker47 min
Apr 16, 8:14 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXMadison66 min
Apr 16, 8:29 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXJackson61 min
Apr 16, 8:32 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXWinston48 min
Apr 16, 8:35 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXCullman65 min
Apr 16, 8:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLimestone34 min
Apr 16, 9:05 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXBlount60 min
Apr 16, 9:32 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXEtowah63 min
Apr 16, 9:34 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXJackson36 min
Apr 16, 9:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarshall50 min
Apr 16, 10:05 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXMarshall35 min
Apr 16, 10:06 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXDeKalb64 min
Apr 16, 10:13 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXCherokee47 min
Apr 16, 10:38 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarshall32 min
Apr 16, 11:07 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXDeKalb48 min
Apr 16, 11:25 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCherokee50 min
Apr 17, 12:22 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson48 min
Apr 17, 12:26 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCherokee44 min
Apr 17, 3:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBarbour50 min
Apr 17, 6:08 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBarbour47 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.