Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 6, NWS Mobile, AL

April 8, 1998Covington County, Alabama

NWS Mobile, AL issued this tornado warning at Apr 8, 1998, 10:19 AM CDT for Covington County, Alabama. It was in force for 36 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: Apr 8, 1998, 10:19 AM CDT (15:19 UTC)
Expired: Apr 8, 1998, 10:55 AM CDT
In force: 36 min
Issued by: NWS Mobile, AL
Area: Whole counties

County Covington County, AL

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Apr 8, 10:20 AM CDT	Tornado F1	Heath, AL	A tornado briefly touched down along U S Highway 29 near Heath. A roof was torn off of four rooms at a motel along the highway. The tornado, only on the ground for a short period of time, knocked a couple of trees down and caused minor damage to a mobile hom

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 nearest sounding before it

Eglin AFB/Valpar, FL (KVPS), launched 12:00Z, 3.3 hours before the alert went out and 86 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: 1443 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -9 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 465 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 71 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 169 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 213 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 2.1
Supercell composite: 7.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMOB 081517 RRA
TORMOB
ALC039-081555-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
1019 AM CDT WED APR 8 1998


THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE AL HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1055 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN SOUTHERN ALABAMA

   ...COVINGTON COUNTY


AT 1019 AM CDT... DOPPLER RADAR AT MOBILE INDICATED A DEVELOPING
TORNADO 6 MILES SOUTHWEST OF ROSE HILL MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

THE FOLLOWING LOCATION IS IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO...
  ROSE HILL AT 1030 AM 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
Apr 8, 9:07 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Mobile	63 min
Apr 8, 9:20 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Baldwin	35 min
Apr 8, 9:56 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Baldwin	34 min
Apr 8, 10:05 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Covington	35 min
Apr 8, 10:59 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Conecuh	31 min
Apr 8, 11:10 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Covington	30 min
Apr 8, 11:38 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	MOB	Covington	32 min
Apr 8, 12:42 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Washington	33 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.