Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 26, NWS Mobile, AL

May 3, 1998Butler County, Covington County, Alabama

NWS Mobile, AL issued this tornado warning at May 3, 1998, 8:48 PM CDT for Butler County, Covington County, Alabama. It was in force for 72 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, 8:48 PM CDT (01:48 UTC)
Expired: May 3, 1998, 10:00 PM CDT
In force: 72 min
Issued by: NWS Mobile, AL
Area: Whole counties

Counties Butler County, AL, Covington County, AL

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 3, 9:30 PM CDT	Hail 1	Mc Kenzie, AL	Quarter size hail was reported in the community.

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, 7:00 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 1.8 hours before the alert went out and 188 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: 1136 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -12 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1040 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 48 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 19 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 128 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.4
Supercell composite: 1.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

782 
WFUS1 KMOB 040147 RRA
TORMOB
ALC013-039-040300-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
848 PM CDT SUN MAY 3 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHERN BUTLER COUNTY IN SOUTHERN ALABAMA
  NORTHERN COVINGTON COUNTY IN SOUTHERN ALABAMA

* UNTIL 1000 PM CDT

* AT 845 PM CDT... A TORNADO WAS LOCATED 11 MILES SOUTHWEST OF
  GEORGIANA OR 7 MILES SOUTHWEST OF MCKENZIE... AS INDICATED BY
  DOPPLER RADAR... MOVING EAST 45 MPH.

* TORNADO WILL BE NEAR-
  BROOKS AT 840 PM CDT
  MCKENZIE AT 840 PM CDT
  OAKY STREAK AT 850 PM CDT

  TORNADO WILL ALSO ENTER EXTREME NORTHWEST COVINGTON COUNTY
  BY 853 PM CDT AND THEN ENTER EXTREME SOUTHEAST BUTLER COUNTY
  BY 905 PM CDT.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION. ACT QUICKLY. IF YOU ARE IN THE
PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A PLACE OF SAFETY BELOW GROUND IF
AVAILABLE. OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR POSSIBLE. AVOID WINDOWS. ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR A
REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 3, 7:14 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Baldwin, Clarke	76 min
May 3, 7:29 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Monroe	61 min
May 3, 7:43 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Mobile	77 min
May 3, 7:56 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Conecuh	79 min
May 3, 8:27 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Baldwin	78 min
May 3, 8:30 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MOB	Conecuh	75 min
May 3, 8:42 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Butler	78 min
May 3, 8:52 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MOB	Baldwin	68 min
May 3, 9:17 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Crenshaw	73 min
May 3, 10:01 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Butler, Conecuh	74 min
May 3, 10:54 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Crenshaw	51 min
May 3, 11:15 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Covington	60 min
May 4, 12:45 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Covington, Escambia	75 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Alabama, 1998 Every tornado warning in 1998 Tornadoes 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.