Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 30, NWS Mobile, AL

June 5, 1998Choctaw County, Alabama; Wayne County, Mississippi

NWS Mobile, AL issued this tornado warning at Jun 5, 1998, 11:12 PM CDT for Choctaw County, Alabama; Wayne County, Mississippi. It was in force for 63 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: Jun 5, 1998, 11:12 PM CDT (04:12 UTC)
Expired: Jun 6, 1998, 12:15 AM CDT
In force: 63 min
Issued by: NWS Mobile, AL
Area: Whole counties

Counties Choctaw County, AL, Wayne County, MS

The radar

The Mobile radar (KMOB), 130 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:13 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
Jun 5, 11:15 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 70	Countywide, AL	A line of severe thunderstorms moved across the county from west to east between 1015 pm and 1045 pm. Trees and power lines were blown down throughout the county. The worst damage was in the south part of the county along County Road 3 near the small communi

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
Jun 5, 7:30 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Jackson, MS (KJAN), launched 00:00Z, 4.2 hours before the alert went out and 160 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: 293 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -319 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1498 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 54 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 91 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 146 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

720 
WFUS1 KMOB 060413 RRA
TORMOB
ALC023-MSC153-060515-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
1112 PM CDT FRI JUN 5 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  CHOCTAW COUNTY IN SOUTHWESTERN ALABAMA
  WAYNE COUNTY IN SOUTHEASTERN MISSISSIPPI

* UNTIL 1215 AM CDT

* AT 1110 PM CDT... A TORNADO WAS LOCATED 28 MILES SOUTHWEST OF BUTLER
  OR 2 MILES SOUTHWEST OF MATHERVILLE... AS INDICATED BY DOPPLER
  RADAR... MOVING NORTHEAST 55 MPH.  THIS IS AN UPGRADE OF THE SEVERE
  THUNDERSTORM WARNINGS PREVIOUSLY IN EFFECT FOR THESE COUNTIES.

* TORNADO WILL BE NEAR-
  MELVIN AT 1115 PM CDT
  NEEDHAM AT 1125 PM CDT
  BUTLER AT 1135 PM CDT
  CROMWELL AT 1140 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
Jun 5, 7:40 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Baldwin	50 min
Jun 5, 10:42 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Choctaw	78 min
Jun 5, 11:07 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Clarke, Washington	68 min
Jun 5, 11:36 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MOB	Clarke	54 min
Jun 5, 11:41 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Mobile	79 min
Jun 6, 12:22 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Monroe, Wilcox	68 min
Jun 6, 12:22 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Baldwin	68 min
Jun 6, 12:31 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Clarke	29 min
Jun 6, 12:36 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Escambia	69 min
Jun 6, 12:36 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Conecuh	69 min
Jun 6, 1:02 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Mobile	43 min
Jun 6, 1:11 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Butler, Covington, Crenshaw	94 min
Jun 5, 10:42 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Perry	78 min
Jun 5, 11:07 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Greene	68 min
Jun 5, 11:18 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	George, Stone	72 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Alabama, 1998 Tornado Warnings in Mississippi, 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.