Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 28, NWS Mobile, AL

May 3, 1998Escambia County, Florida

NWS Mobile, AL issued this tornado warning at May 3, 1998, 9:10 PM CDT for Escambia County, Florida. 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, 9:10 PM CDT (02:10 UTC)
Expired: May 3, 1998, 10:15 PM CDT
In force: 65 min
Issued by: NWS Mobile, AL
Area: Whole counties

County Escambia County, FL

The radar

The Mobile radar (KMOB), 86 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:13 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
May 3, 9:26 PM CDT	Hail 1.75	Molino, FL	Golfball 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

Slidell Radar S, LA (KSIL), launched 00:00Z, 2.2 hours before the alert went out and 230 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: 1568 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -55 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1328 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 61 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 226 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.5
Supercell composite: 3.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

912 
WFUS1 KMOB 040209 RRA
TORMOB
FLC033-040315-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTH CENTRAL AND CENTRAL ESCAMBIA COUNTY IN NORTHWESTERN FLORIDA

* UNTIL 1015 PM CDT

* AT 909 PM CDT... A TORNADO WAS LOCATED 19 MILES NORTHWEST OF
  CANTONMENT OR 12 MILES NORTHWEST OF BARRINEAU PARK... AS INDICATED
  BY DOPPLER RADAR... MOVING EAST 30 MPH.

* TORNADO WILL BE NEAR-
  BARRINEAU PARK AT 920 PM CDT
  MOLINO CROSSROADS AT 930 PM CDT
  MOLINO AT 935 PM CDT
  BRICKTON AT 935 PM CDT
  CANTONMENT AT 935 PM CDT

IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SAFETY IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING. AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK REFUGE IN A CULVERT...DITCH OR LOW
SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 3, 8:17 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Escambia	73 min
May 3, 9:48 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MOB	Santa Rosa	72 min
May 4, 1:08 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Santa Rosa	52 min
May 4, 2:02 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Okaloosa	58 min
May 4, 3:02 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Okaloosa	58 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Florida, 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.