Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Watches in 1998
Tornado Watch 69
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Feb 26, 1998, 3:30 PM CST for 13 counties in Alabama; Saint Tammany Parish, Louisiana; 13 counties in Mississippi. It was in force for 6 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Feb 26, 1998, 3:30 PM CST (21:30 UTC)
- Expired
- Feb 26, 1998, 9:00 PM CST
- In force
- 6 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 27 counties
Baldwin County, AL, Butler County, AL, Choctaw County, AL, Clarke County, AL, Conecuh County, AL, Dallas County, AL, Escambia County, AL, Lowndes County, AL, Marengo County, AL, Mobile County, AL, Monroe County, AL, Washington County, AL, Wilcox County, AL, Saint Tammany Parish, LA, Clarke County, MS, Forrest County, MS, George County, MS, Greene County, MS, Hancock County, MS, Harrison County, MS, Jackson County, MS, Jones County, MS, Lauderdale County, MS, Pearl River County, MS, Perry County, MS, Stone County, MS, Wayne County, MS
The radar
The Mobile radar (KMOB), 55 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:32 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.
Warnings issued inside it
10 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 26, 3:37 PM CST | Tornado Warning | JAN | Lauderdale | 53 min |
| Feb 26, 3:43 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Forrest, Lamar | 47 min |
| Feb 26, 4:05 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Wayne | 65 min |
| Feb 26, 4:07 PM CST | Tornado Warning | JAN | Clarke | 53 min |
| Feb 26, 4:10 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Perry | 65 min |
| Feb 26, 4:34 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Greene | 51 min |
| Feb 26, 4:54 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Choctaw | 66 min |
| Feb 26, 4:59 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Washington | 66 min |
| Feb 26, 5:10 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Clarke | 60 min |
| Feb 26, 5:16 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Dallas | 49 min |
The nearest sounding before it
Slidell Radar S, LA (KSIL), launched 12:00Z, 9.5 hours before the alert went out and 150 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 62 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -285 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 707 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 47 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 364 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 422 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.1
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
258 WWUS9 KMKC 262057 SEL9 MKC WW 262057 ALZ000-MSZ000-270300- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 69 STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 257 PM CST THU FEB 26 1998 THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN ALABAMA SOUTHEASTERN MISSISSIPPI AND ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS EFFECTIVE THIS THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 330 PM UNTIL 900 PM CST. TORNADOES...HAIL TO 1 INCH IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 80 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS. THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 75 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 20 MILES SOUTHEAST OF GULFPORT MISSISSIPPI TO 25 MILES WEST NORTHWEST OF SELMA ALABAMA. REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS. OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...THIS TORNADO WATCH REPLACES TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 67. WATCH NUMBER 67 WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER 330 PM CST. CONTINUE...WW 68... DISCUSSION...BOWS/LEWPS AND ISOLATED TORNADOES POSSIBLE THIS EVENING ALONG LEADING EDGE OF RAIN-COOLED AIR MASS SPREADING E FROM SOUTHERN MS/LA. STRONG MAINLY UNIDIRECTIONAL SHEAR ALREADY IN PLACE ACROSS REGION LIKELY TO BE ENHANCED BY ARRIVAL OF STRONGER FLOW ALOFT NOW OVER E TX/WRN LA. AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 1 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 450. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 23040. ...CORFIDI 301,0900 322,0883 322,0860 301,0873
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 26, 1:15 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Autauga, Bibb, Blount, Calhoun, Chambers, Cherokee and 35 more | 4 hr |
| Feb 26, 5:00 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Autauga, Bibb, Calhoun, Chilton, Clay, Cleburne and 9 more | 4 hr |
| Feb 26, 12:00 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Claiborne, De Soto, Jackson and 8 more | 6 hr |
| Feb 26, 6:30 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Acadia, Allen, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron and 5 more | 6 hr |
| Feb 26, 9:30 AM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Ascension, Assumption, Avoyelles, Catahoula, Concordia, East Baton Rouge and 28 more | 7 hr |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Alabama, 1998Tornado Watches in Mississippi, 1998Tornado Watches in Louisiana, 1998Every tornado watch 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.