Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Watches in 1998

Tornado Watch 71

February 26, 199818 counties in Alabama; 7 counties in Florida

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Feb 26, 1998, 7:00 PM CST for 18 counties in Alabama; 7 counties in Florida. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Feb 26, 1998, 7:00 PM CST (01:00 UTC)
Expired: Feb 27, 1998, 12:00 AM CST
In force: 5 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 25 counties

Barbour County, AL, Bullock County, AL, Butler County, AL, Coffee County, AL, Conecuh County, AL, Covington County, AL, Crenshaw County, AL, Dale County, AL, Dallas County, AL, Escambia County, AL, Geneva County, AL, Lowndes County, AL, Macon County, AL, Monroe County, AL, Montgomery County, AL, Pike County, AL, Russell County, AL, Wilcox County, AL, Bay County, FL, Escambia County, FL, Holmes County, FL, Okaloosa County, FL, Santa Rosa County, FL, Walton County, FL, Washington County, FL

The radar

The Eglin Afb radar (KEVX), 82 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:02 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

5 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Feb 26, 7:14 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Elmore, Montgomery	46 min
Feb 26, 7:54 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Santa Rosa	46 min
Feb 26, 8:03 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Covington	62 min
Feb 26, 9:13 PM CST	Tornado Warning	TAE	Coffee	47 min
Feb 26, 9:47 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TAE	Holmes, Walton	43 min

The nearest sounding before it

Tallahassee Rgnl, FL (KTLH), launched 00:00Z, 1.0 hours before the alert went out and 234 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 1522 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 61 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 256 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 316 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.

535 
WWUS9 KMKC 270026
SEL1  
MKC WW 270026
ALZ000-FLZ000-270600-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 71
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
626 PM CST THU FEB 26 1998

THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF

   SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST ALABAMA                            
   NORTHWEST FLORIDA                            
   AND ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS

EFFECTIVE THIS THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY MORNING FROM 700 PM UNTIL
MIDNIGHT CST.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 1 INCH IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO
70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 65 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 60 MILES WEST SOUTHWEST OF PANAMA CITY FLORIDA TO 15
MILES NORTHEAST OF MONTGOMERY 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 69.  WATCH NUMBER 69 WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER 700 PM CST. 
CONTINUE...WW 70...

DISCUSSION...NEW LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS HAS INTENSIFIED FROM CENTRAL
ALABAMA SOUTHWARD INTO THE GULF OF MEXICO EAST OF MOBILE.  GUSTY
SOUTHEASTERLY SURFACE WINDS AND PRESSURE FALLS CONTINUE AHEAD OF
THE LINE.  VAD WINDS SHOW FAVORABLE SHEAR SUPPORTIVE OF SEVERE
STORMS WITHIN LOW CAPE ENVIRONMENT.  WIND PROFILES SUGGEST
POSSIBILITY OF BOW ECHOES DEVELOPING ALONG THE LINE INCLUDING
POTENTIAL FOR BRIEF SUPERCELL DEVELOPMENT.


AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 1 INCH.  EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS.  A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 400. 
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 23040.


...WEISS

295,0874 322,0872 322,0850 295,0853

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Alabama, 1998 Tornado Watches in Florida, 1998 Every 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.