Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 20, NWS Mobile, AL

April 17, 1998Escambia County, Alabama

NWS Mobile, AL issued this tornado warning at Apr 17, 1998, 7:15 PM CDT for Escambia County, Alabama. It was in force for 60 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Apr 17, 1998, 7:15 PM CDT (00:15 UTC)
Expired
Apr 17, 1998, 8:15 PM CDT
In force
60 min
Issued by
NWS Mobile, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Escambia County, AL

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Apr 17, 5:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 0.3 hours before the alert went out and 231 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 00:00Z on 1998-04-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 00:00Z on 1998-04-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -92 square meters per square second.1939587897117136Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1196 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
77 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-92 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-41 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.

023 
WFUS1 KMOB 180016 RRA
TORMOB
ALC053-180115-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
715 PM CDT FRI APR 17 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE HAS UPGRADED THE SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM WARNING TO A TORNADO WARNING

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  ESCAMBIA COUNTY IN SOUTHWESTERN ALABAMA

* UNTIL 815 PM CDT

* AT 712 PM CDT... A DEVELOPING TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY DOPPLER RADAR
NEAR WALLACE,AL. THE STORM WAS MOVING EAST-NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO MOVE TO NEAR BREWTON BY 730 PM CDT AND
THEN FURTHER NORTHEAST TOWARDS CASTLEBERRY THEREAFTER.

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...SEEK SAFETY IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...OR
CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY. STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 17, 7:03 PM CDTTornado WarningMOBClarke47 min
Apr 17, 7:23 PM CDTTornado WarningMOBBaldwin, Monroe32 min
Apr 17, 7:44 PM CDTTornado WarningMOBCovington61 min
Apr 17, 7:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBWashington62 min
Apr 17, 8:21 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBConecuh, Escambia44 min
Apr 17, 8:41 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBCovington64 min
Apr 17, 9:24 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBWashington61 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.