Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 86, NWS Birmingham, AL

May 6, 1998Colbert County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at May 6, 1998, 2:04 PM CDT for Colbert County, Alabama. It was in force for 51 min. 1 report 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
May 6, 1998, 2:04 PM CDT (19:04 UTC)
Expired
May 6, 1998, 2:55 PM CDT
In force
51 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Colbert County, AL

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 6, 2:30 PM CDTHail 0.75Littleville, ALDime size hail was reported just north of Littleville.

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 nearest sounding before it

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 12:00Z, 7.1 hours before the alert went out and 193 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 1998-05-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 51 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 1998-05-06The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 27 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
51 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-84 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1243 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
27 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
112 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 061904 RRA
TORBHM
ALC033-061955-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
204 PM CDT WED MAY 6 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 255 PM CDT

* AT 204 PM CDT... A POSSIBLE TORNADO WAS DETECTED...BY NATIONAL
WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR ALONG WESTERN COLBERT COUNTY NEAR
ALLSBORO. THE STORM WAS MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH.


IF YOU ARE IN A MULTIPLE STORY BUILDING...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM
AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 6, 1:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXColbert48 min
May 6, 2:51 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXColbert49 min
May 6, 3:01 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXLawrence34 min
May 6, 3:06 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXFranklin34 min
May 6, 3:09 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMorgan31 min
May 6, 3:35 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXFranklin35 min
May 6, 3:39 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXLawrence51 min
May 6, 3:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMorgan65 min
May 6, 4:03 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXMorgan47 min
May 6, 4:05 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarshall60 min
May 6, 4:09 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXMarion, Winston51 min
May 6, 5:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCullman48 min
May 6, 5:22 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXCullman48 min
May 6, 5:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTuscaloosa47 min
May 6, 5:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBlount62 min
May 6, 6:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTuscaloosa33 min
May 6, 6:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPickens50 min
May 6, 6:34 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBibb46 min
May 6, 6:39 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson46 min
May 6, 6:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSt. Clair63 min
May 6, 6:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXShelby47 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.