Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 77, NWS Birmingham, AL

April 18, 1998Etowah County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Apr 18, 1998, 6:56 PM CDT for Etowah County, Alabama. It was in force for 49 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 18, 1998, 6:56 PM CDT (23:56 UTC)
Expired
Apr 18, 1998, 7:45 PM CDT
In force
49 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Etowah County, AL

The watch it was issued in

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

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Apr 18, 5:45 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 11.9 hours before the alert went out and 118 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 1998-04-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 1998-04-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 98 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
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.

000 
TTAA00 KBHM 182356 RRA
TORBHM
ALC055-190045-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  ETOWAH COUNTY... IN NORTHERN ALABAMA

* UNTIL 745 PM CDT

* AT 655 PM CDT... A TORNADO WAS DETECTED...BY NATIONAL WEATHER
  SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR NEAR THE TOWN OF ALTOONA...MOVING NORTHEAST AT
35 MILES PER HOUR.  THIS STORM IS MnOVING TOWARD AURORA AND
MOUNTIANBORO.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...

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 17, 9:21 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPike34 min
Apr 17, 9:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBarbour47 min
Apr 17, 11:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLowndes, Montgomery50 min
Apr 18, 1:38 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSumter62 min
Apr 18, 9:05 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXGreene, Sumter45 min
Apr 18, 9:47 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXGreene33 min
Apr 18, 10:38 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTuscaloosa32 min
Apr 18, 10:58 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson62 min
Apr 18, 12:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTuscaloosa45 min
Apr 18, 12:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson45 min
Apr 18, 5:13 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXCalhoun32 min
Apr 18, 5:24 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTuscaloosa46 min
Apr 18, 5:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXDallas18 min
Apr 18, 5:42 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXCherokee48 min
Apr 18, 5:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXChilton46 min
Apr 18, 6:03 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXChilton47 min
Apr 18, 6:15 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXJackson4 hr
Apr 18, 6:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson49 min
Apr 18, 6:20 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXJackson50 min
Apr 18, 6:20 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXDallas50 min
Apr 18, 6:26 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXCherokee19 min
Apr 18, 6:35 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXBlount, Marshall4 hr
Apr 18, 6:48 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXPerry62 min
Apr 18, 6:52 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXShelby63 min
Apr 18, 6:53 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXDeKalb47 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.