Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 40, NWS Mobile, AL

September 28, 1998Covington County, Alabama

NWS Mobile, AL issued this tornado warning at Sep 28, 1998, 8:41 AM CDT for Covington County, Alabama. It was in force for 79 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
Sep 28, 1998, 8:41 AM CDT (13:41 UTC)
Expired
Sep 28, 1998, 10:00 AM CDT
In force
79 min
Issued by
NWS Mobile, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Covington County, AL

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Sep 28, 8:45 AM CDTTornado F0Andalusia, ALA tornado briefly touched down near the community of Antioch (northeast of Andalusia). The tornado caused roof damage to three homes. Several trees and power lines were also blown down.

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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Sep 28, 1:00 AM CDTTornado WatchSPC12 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 1.7 hours before the alert went out and 217 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 12:00Z on 1998-09-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 354 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 1998-09-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -28 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
354 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-118 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
817 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-28 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-30 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.

168 
WFUS1 KMOB 281340 RRA
TORMOB
ALC039-281500-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
841 AM CDT MON SEP 28 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 1000 AM CDT

* AT 838 AM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR IN MOBILE INDICATED
  TWO POSSIBLE TORNADOES. THE FIRST WAS CURRENTLY ADVANCING INTO
  EXTREME SOUTHEAST COVINGTON COUNTY...AND THE SECOND WAS LOCATED 9
  MILES EAST OF ANDALUSIA.  THESE TORNADOES WERE MOVING TO THE NORTH-
  NORTHWEST AT50 MPH.

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.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 27, 11:51 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningMOBEscambia69 min
Sep 28, 1:02 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningMOBBaldwin, Escambia7 hr
Sep 28, 6:00 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningMOBBaldwin, Mobile6 hr
Sep 28, 6:00 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningMOBEscambia6 hr
Sep 28, 7:48 AM CDTTornado WarningMOBCovington42 min
Sep 28, 10:41 AM CDTTornado WarningMOBBaldwin79 min
Sep 28, 11:15 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningMOBButler, Covington6 hr
Sep 28, 11:54 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningMOBEscambia8 hr
Sep 28, 11:54 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningMOBButler, Covington, Crenshaw8 hr
Sep 28, 11:54 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningMOBBaldwin, Mobile, Washington8 hr
Sep 28, 2:01 PM CDTTornado WarningMOBCrenshaw44 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.