Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 9, NWS Mobile, AL

April 17, 1998Covington County, Alabama

NWS Mobile, AL issued this tornado warning at Apr 17, 1998, 5:25 PM CDT for Covington County, Alabama. It was in force for 60 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Apr 17, 1998, 5:25 PM CDT (22:25 UTC)
Expired
Apr 17, 1998, 6:25 PM CDT
In force
60 min
Issued by
NWS Mobile, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Covington County, AL

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 10.4 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 1998-04-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 1998-04-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 108 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
615 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
66 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
108 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
266 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
2.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

460 
WFUS1 KMOB 172226 RRA
TORMOB
ALC039-172325-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
525 PM CDT FRI APR 17 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 625 PM CDT

* AT 522 PM CDT... A DEVELOPING TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY NWS DOPPLER
RADAR ON THE ESCAMBIA COUNTY/COVINGTON COUNTY LINE. THIS STORM WAS
MOVING EAST-NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH. THE TORNADO WILL MOVE NEAR DIXIE,AL
AND THEN PROCEED INTO THE SOUTH CENTRAL PORTION OF THE COUNTY PASSING
JUST SOUTH OF ANADALUSI,AL BY 645 PM CDT.


* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...

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.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 17, 4:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBEscambia65 min
Apr 17, 4:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBCovington66 min
Apr 17, 5:29 PM CDTTornado WarningMOBWashington61 min
Apr 17, 6:02 PM CDTTornado WarningMOBClarke63 min
Apr 17, 6:17 PM CDTTornado WarningMOBWashington48 min
Apr 17, 6:21 PM CDTTornado WarningMOBBaldwin, Monroe64 min
Apr 17, 6:25 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBMobile60 min
Apr 17, 6:49 PM CDTTornado WarningMOBConecuh61 min
Apr 17, 6:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBEscambia62 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.