Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 72, NWS Birmingham, AL

April 18, 1998Dallas County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Apr 18, 1998, 6:20 PM CDT for Dallas County, Alabama. It was in force for 50 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 18, 1998, 6:20 PM CDT (23:20 UTC)
Expired: Apr 18, 1998, 7:10 PM CDT
In force: 50 min
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL
Area: Whole counties

County Dallas County, AL

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Apr 18, 6:45 PM CDT	Tornado F0	Marion Jct, AL	A brief tornado touchdown was reported near Marion Junction by a deputy sheriff. Very little damage was done.
Apr 18, 7:00 PM CDT	Hail 0.75	Countywide, AL	Dime size hail was reported in many locations across 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 18, 5:45 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 11.3 hours before the alert went out and 100 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 1180 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 76 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 98 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 114 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.

735 
WFUS1 KBHM 182319 RRB
TORBHM
ALC047-190010-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
620 PM CDT SAT APR 18 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  DALLAS COUNTY... IN CENTRAL ALABAMA

* UNTIL 710 PM CDT

* AT 618 PM CDT... A TORNADO WAS DETECTED...BY NATIONAL WEATHER
  SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR NEAR SAFFORD IN WESTERN DALLAS COUNTY.

* THE TORNADO IS MOVING NORTH AT 40 MPH...AND WILL AFFECT THE
SALEM AND MARION JUNCTION AREAS BETWEEN 620 PM AND 650 PM.

IF YOU ARE IN A CAR...GO IN A NEARBY STURDY BUILDING AS A LAST
RESORT LIE FLAT IN A DITCH AND COVER YOUR HEAD.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 17, 9:21 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Pike	34 min
Apr 17, 9:53 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Barbour	47 min
Apr 17, 11:40 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Lowndes, Montgomery	50 min
Apr 18, 1:38 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Sumter	62 min
Apr 18, 9:05 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Greene, Sumter	45 min
Apr 18, 9:47 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Greene	33 min
Apr 18, 10:38 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Tuscaloosa	32 min
Apr 18, 10:58 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Jefferson	62 min
Apr 18, 12:00 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Tuscaloosa	45 min
Apr 18, 12:10 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Jefferson	45 min
Apr 18, 5:13 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Calhoun	32 min
Apr 18, 5:24 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Tuscaloosa	46 min
Apr 18, 5:37 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Dallas	18 min
Apr 18, 5:42 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Cherokee	48 min
Apr 18, 5:44 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Chilton	46 min
Apr 18, 6:03 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Chilton	47 min
Apr 18, 6:15 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Jackson	4 hr
Apr 18, 6:16 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Jefferson	49 min
Apr 18, 6:20 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Jackson	50 min
Apr 18, 6:26 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Cherokee	19 min
Apr 18, 6:35 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Blount, Marshall	4 hr
Apr 18, 6:48 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Perry	62 min
Apr 18, 6:52 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Shelby	63 min
Apr 18, 6:53 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	DeKalb	47 min
Apr 18, 6:56 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Etowah	49 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.