Alert archive / Florida / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 15, NWS Mobile, AL
NWS Mobile, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jan 7, 1998, 9:40 AM CST for Okaloosa County, Florida; Covington County, Alabama. It was in force for 60 min. 2 reports 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
- Jan 7, 1998, 9:40 AM CST (15:40 UTC)
- Expired
- Jan 7, 1998, 10:40 AM CST
- In force
- 60 min
- Issued by
- NWS Mobile, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Covington County, AL, Okaloosa County, FL
The radar
The Eglin Afb radar (KEVX), 72 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 15:40 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.
Open the radar archive at this moment
The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 7, 10:05 AM CST | Thunderstorm Wind 50 | River Falls, AL | Several trees were blown down along US Hwy 84 near River Falls. |
| Jan 7, 10:15 AM CST | Tornado F0 | Destin, FL | A waterspout moved onshore on Okaloosa Island and damaged a home under construction. The waterspout/tornado quickly dissipated as it moved onshore. The tornado track on the island was less than a block long. A male working on the house was injured and was |
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.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 7, 4:00 AM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
| Jan 7, 9:15 AM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Eglin AFB/Valpar, FL (KVPS), launched 12:00Z, 3.7 hours before the alert went out and 53 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 346 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -39 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 443 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 58 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 277 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 324 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 1.9
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KMOB 071540 RRA SVRMOB ALC039-FLC091-071640- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL 940 AM CST WED JAN 7 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE AL HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1040 AM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... IN SOUTHERN ALABAMA ...COVINGTON COUNTY IN NORTHWESTERN FLORIDA ...OKALOOSA COUNTY AT 937 AM CST...MOBILE DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ADVANCING INTO WESTERN OKALOOSA AND COVINGTON COUNTIES...WHICH WILL AFFECT THE CITIES OF CRESTVIEW FLORIDA AND ANDALUSIA ALABAMA AROUND 1010 AM. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL PRODUCE GUSTY WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH AS WELL AS TORRENTIAL RAINFALL. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH... DESTRUCTIVE HAIL... DEADLY LIGHTNING... AND VERY HEAVY RAIN. FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF YOUR HOME O R BUSINESS. HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO DONT DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Mobile, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 7, 8:14 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Escambia | 61 min |
| Jan 7, 8:41 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Santa Rosa | 64 min |
| Jan 7, 9:49 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Santa Rosa | 31 min |
| Jan 7, 4:55 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Mobile | 65 min |
| Jan 7, 5:50 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Baldwin | 55 min |
| Jan 7, 6:00 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Mobile | 60 min |
| Jan 7, 6:38 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | MOB | Choctaw, Mobile, Washington | 3 hr |
| Jan 7, 7:10 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Choctaw | 20 min |
| Jan 7, 7:39 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | MOB | Baldwin | 3 hr |
| Jan 7, 7:53 AM CST | Tornado Warning | MOB | Baldwin | 52 min |
| Jan 7, 7:57 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Escambia | 63 min |
| Jan 7, 8:08 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Monroe | 67 min |
| Jan 7, 8:33 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Conecuh | 57 min |
| Jan 7, 9:01 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Wilcox | 59 min |
| Jan 7, 9:05 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Escambia | 60 min |
| Jan 7, 9:45 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | MOB | Choctaw, Mobile, Washington | 3 hr |
| Jan 7, 10:09 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Butler | 61 min |
| Jan 7, 10:38 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | MOB | Escambia | 112 min |
| Jan 7, 10:43 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Covington | 62 min |
| Jan 7, 10:55 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | MOB | Baldwin | 110 min |
| Jan 7, 4:41 PM CST | Flash Flood Warning | MOB | Baldwin | 5 hr |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Florida, 1998Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Alabama, 1998Every 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.