Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 90, NWS Birmingham, AL

May 6, 1998Franklin County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at May 6, 1998, 3:35 PM CDT for Franklin County, Alabama. It was in force for 35 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, 3:35 PM CDT (20:35 UTC)
Expired
May 6, 1998, 4:10 PM CDT
In force
35 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Franklin County, AL

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 6, 3:57 PM CDTHail 0.75Russellville, ALDime size hail was reported east of Russellville.

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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 6, 2:15 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 8.6 hours before the alert went out and 171 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 1998-05-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 4 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, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 1998-05-06The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 122 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
4 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-335 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1290 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
122 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
221 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 062035 RRA
TORBHM
ALC059-062110-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 410 PM CDT

* AT 333 PM CDT... A TORNADO WAS DETECTED...BY NATIONAL WEATHER
  SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR 10 MILES WEST OF RUSSELLVILLE...MOVING EAST AT
30 MPH.  A SECOND SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH A POSSIBLE TORNADO WAS
5 MILES NORTHEAST OF RUSSELLVILLE...ALSO 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, 2:04 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXColbert51 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, 3:39 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.