Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1998
Tornado Warning 23, NWS Mobile, AL
NWS Mobile, AL issued this tornado warning at May 3, 1998, 3:25 PM CDT for Wilcox 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
- May 3, 1998, 3:25 PM CDT (20:25 UTC)
- Expired
- May 3, 1998, 4:30 PM CDT
- In force
- 65 min
- Issued by
- NWS Mobile, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Wilcox County, AL
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 3, 3:40 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 50 | Camden, AL | Several trees were blown down near Camden. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 3, 2:30 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 8.4 hours before the alert went out and 141 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
- 446 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -80 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1216 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 56 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 127 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 165 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.9
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
802 WFUS1 KMOB 032024 RRA TORMOB ALC131-032130- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL 325 PM CDT SUN MAY 3 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE HAS UPGRADED THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING TO A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... WILCOX COUNTY IN SOUTHWESTERN ALABAMA * UNTIL 430 PM CDT * AT 323 PM CDT... A TORNADO WAS LOCATED 7 MILES NORTHWEST OF CAMDEN... AS INDICATED BY DOPPLER RADAR... MOVING EAST 35 MPH. * TORNADO WILL BE NEAR- DARLINGTON AT 330 PM CDT MCWILLIAMS AT 340 PM CDT SNOW HILL AT 340 PM CDT ALLENTON AT 345 PM CDT 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.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2, 8:20 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Conecuh | 55 min |
| May 3, 7:28 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Butler, Wilcox | 62 min |
| May 3, 8:27 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Crenshaw | 63 min |
| May 3, 1:49 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Choctaw | 56 min |
| May 3, 2:43 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Wilcox | 77 min |
| May 3, 2:45 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Choctaw | 75 min |
| May 3, 2:53 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Clarke | 97 min |
| May 3, 4:02 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Butler | 58 min |
| May 3, 4:28 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Conecuh | 47 min |
| May 3, 4:46 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Covington | 59 min |
| May 3, 5:08 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MOB | Covington | 37 min |
| May 3, 6:22 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Mobile | 68 min |
| May 3, 6:37 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Washington | 53 min |
| May 3, 6:51 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Escambia | 69 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.