Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 102, NWS Mobile, AL

April 17, 1998Covington County, Alabama

NWS Mobile, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 17, 1998, 4:54 PM CDT for Covington County, Alabama. It was in force for 66 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: Apr 17, 1998, 4:54 PM CDT (21:54 UTC)
Expired: Apr 17, 1998, 6:00 PM CDT
In force: 66 min
Issued by: NWS Mobile, AL
Area: Whole counties

County Covington County, AL

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Apr 17, 5:15 PM CDT	Tornado F1	Opp, AL	A tornado touched down just east of the Opp country club, then moved southeast crossing U S Highway 84 just south of downtown before lifting back into the cloud just west of U S Highway 331. The tornado damaged the Opp mill and tore off part of the roof from

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

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 9.9 hours before the alert went out and 217 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: 615 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 66 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 108 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 266 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 2.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMOB 172154 RRA
SVRMOB
ALC039-172300-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
454 PM CDT FRI APR 17 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  COVINGTON COUNTY IN SOUTHERN ALABAMA

* UNTIL 600 PM CDT

* AT 453 PM CDT... A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED 6 MILES SOUTHEAST
  OF ANDALUSIA OR 3 MILES SOUTH OF SANFORD... AS INDICATED BY DOPPLER
  RADAR... MOVING NORTHEAST 35 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR-
  SANFORD AT 456 PM CDT
  BABBIE AT 500 PM CDT
  POLEY AT 500 PM CDT
  OPP   AT 505 PM CDT
  EODA  AT 505 PM CDT

IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK REFUGE FROM THE WEATHER IN bA STRONG
BUILDING. DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN... AND DEADLY
LIGHTNING ARE ALL POSSIBLE IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. STAY INSIDE AWAY
FROM WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Mobile, AL wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Apr 17, 2:56 PM CDT, 1 hour 58 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 17, 2:56 PM CDT, 1 hour 58 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
256 PM CDT FRI APR 17 1998

SFC FRONT AT 19Z WAS FROM NEAR GZH TO GULF SHORES WITH TSTMS
DEVELOPING JUST EAST OF FORECAST. APPEARS THAT ATMOSPHERE OVER FA
STILL TOO CAPPED FOR ANYTHING MORE THAN A BRIEF FLAREUP. WATER VAPOR
SHOWS UPPER LEVEL MOISTURE FLOWING ACROSS ALL OF FA WHICH WILL SET
STAGE FOR HEAVY RAIN EVENT SAT NIGHT INTO SUN MORNING. SFC FRONT WILL
WAFFLE ACRS AREA NEXT 24 HOURS AS WAVE DEVELOPS ALONG FRONT OVER W
GULF AS UPPER JET MOVES OVER. THIS JET WILL BE PART OF A COUPLET THAT
WILL BE PLACE FA UNDER FAVORABLE JET POSITION SAT AFTERNOON. WITH SFC
FRONT...JET AND MOISTURE ALL IN PLACE EXPECT SIGNIFICANT RAIN
EVENT...PRECEDED BY SVR TSTMS. WUD MENTION PSBL SVR SAT AFTERNOON AND
HEAVY RAIN FOR SAT NIGHT INTO SUN. AVN POPS SEEM A BIT LOW FOR
TOMORROW AND THAT MAY BE A RESULT OF SURGE OF DRY AIR AT H8 THAT
MOVES TOWARD CENTRAL GULF COAST SAT AFTERNOON THEN GETS PUSHED BACK
TO THE EAST AS UPPER TROF APPRAOCHES.

OVER THE CSTL WATERS...WIND DIRECTION DEPENDS ON WHICH SIDE OF FRONT
BUT BELIEVE BY SAT ALL WINDS SHUD BE BACK TO S OR SW. SHWRS/TSTMS
ALONG FRONT SAT NIGHT AND SUN.

MOB 64/79/63/73 3598  PNS 67/78/64/76 3488
DTS 68/78/65/77 3488  EVR 58/77/60/74 4698

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 17, 4:45 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Escambia	65 min
Apr 17, 5:25 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MOB	Covington	60 min
Apr 17, 5:29 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MOB	Washington	61 min
Apr 17, 6:02 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MOB	Clarke	63 min
Apr 17, 6:17 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MOB	Washington	48 min
Apr 17, 6:21 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MOB	Baldwin, Monroe	64 min
Apr 17, 6:25 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Mobile	60 min
Apr 17, 6:49 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MOB	Conecuh	61 min
Apr 17, 6:58 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Escambia	62 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Alabama, 1998 Every severe thunderstorm warning 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.