Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 4, NWS Mobile, AL

January 7, 1998Mobile County, Alabama

NWS Mobile, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jan 7, 1998, 4:55 AM CST for Mobile County, Alabama. It was in force for 65 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
Jan 7, 1998, 4:55 AM CST (10:55 UTC)
Expired
Jan 7, 1998, 6:00 AM CST
In force
65 min
Issued by
NWS Mobile, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Mobile County, AL

The radar

The Mobile radar (KMOB), 4 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 10:57 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jan 7, 5:30 AM CSTThunderstorm Wind 50Mobile, ALSeveral trees were down in west Mobile.

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
Jan 7, 4:00 AM CSTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Slidell Radar S, LA (KSIL), launched 00:00Z, 10.9 hours before the alert went out and 152 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, Slidell Radar S, LA at 00:00Z on 1998-01-07Temperature 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°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Slidell Radar S, LA at 00:00Z on 1998-01-07The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 319 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
4 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-252 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
768 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
63 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
319 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
407 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMOB 071055 RRA
SVRMOB
ALC097-071200-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
455 AM CST WED JAN 7 1998
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  600 AM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHWEST ALABAMA
 
   ...MOBILE COUNTY
 
AT 455 AM CST...WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
MOVING INTO SOUTHWEST MOBILE COUNTY.
 
MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTH NORTHEAST AT 50 MPH.
 
THIS STORM WILL BE AFFECTING AREAS JUST WEST OF BAYOU LA BATRE
BY 500 AM...BIG CREEK LAKE BY 515 AM...AND CHUNCHULA BY 530 AM.
 
 
A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THE WARNED AREA.  REJMEMBER
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES
WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING.  REMAIN CALM BUT BE ALERT TO
RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 7, 5:50 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBBaldwin55 min
Jan 7, 6:00 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBMobile60 min
Jan 7, 6:38 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningMOBChoctaw, Mobile, Washington3 hr
Jan 7, 7:10 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBChoctaw20 min
Jan 7, 7:39 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningMOBBaldwin3 hr
Jan 7, 7:53 AM CSTTornado WarningMOBBaldwin52 min
Jan 7, 7:57 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBEscambia63 min
Jan 7, 8:08 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBMonroe67 min
Jan 7, 8:33 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBConecuh57 min
Jan 7, 9:01 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBWilcox59 min
Jan 7, 9:05 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBEscambia60 min
Jan 7, 9:40 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBCovington60 min
Jan 7, 9:45 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningMOBChoctaw, Mobile, Washington3 hr
Jan 7, 10:09 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBButler61 min
Jan 7, 10:38 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningMOBEscambia112 min
Jan 7, 10:43 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBCovington62 min
Jan 7, 10:55 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningMOBBaldwin110 min
Jan 7, 4:41 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningMOBBaldwin5 hr

Nearby

Severe 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.