Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 85, NWS Birmingham, AL

April 18, 1998Talladega County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Apr 18, 1998, 8:23 PM CDT for Talladega County, Alabama. It was in force for 62 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, 8:23 PM CDT (01:23 UTC)
Expired: Apr 18, 1998, 9:25 PM CDT
In force: 62 min
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL
Area: Whole counties

County Talladega County, AL

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 00:00Z, 1.4 hours before the alert went out and 61 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: 782 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -35 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 612 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 83 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 229 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 393 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 1.7
Supercell composite: 13.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

326 
WFUS1 KBHM 190123
TORBHM
ALC121-190225-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 925 PM CDT

* AT 822 PM CDT... A POSSIBLE TORNADO WAS DETECTED...BY NATIONAL
  WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR JUST TO THE WEST OF SYLACAUGE.
MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTHEAST AT 35 MILES PER HOUR.  THIS STORM WILL
AFFECT THE TOWNS OF SYCAMORE AND WINTERBORO.

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

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.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION. ACT QUICKLY. IF YOU ARE IN
THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF
AVAILABLE. OTHERWISE... GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR. AVOID WINDOWS AND DOORS. ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR
A STURDIER BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 18, 7:01 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Marshall	19 min
Apr 18, 7:02 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Jefferson	33 min
Apr 18, 7:13 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Chilton	62 min
Apr 18, 7:26 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	DeKalb	4 hr
Apr 18, 7:26 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	St. Clair, Talladega	64 min
Apr 18, 7:30 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Lowndes	50 min
Apr 18, 7:36 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	DeKalb	44 min
Apr 18, 7:39 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Chilton	31 min
Apr 18, 7:44 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Cherokee	46 min
Apr 18, 7:55 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Shelby	20 min
Apr 18, 7:58 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Calhoun	47 min
Apr 18, 9:06 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Cherokee	19 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.