Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Tallahassee, FL

April 8, 1998Dale County, Alabama

NWS Tallahassee, FL issued this tornado warning at Apr 8, 1998, 11:03 AM CDT for Dale County, Alabama. It was in force for 62 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, 11:03 AM CDT (16:03 UTC)
Expired
Apr 8, 1998, 12:05 PM CDT
In force
62 min
Issued by
NWS Tallahassee, FL
Area
Whole counties

County Dale County, AL

The radar

The Ft Rucker radar (KEOX), 15 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 16:06 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.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Apr 8, 11:10 AM CDTHail 0.75Ozark, ALDime sized hail reported by Dale County EMA.

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
Apr 8, 10:30 AM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Eglin AFB/Valpar, FL (KVPS), launched 12:00Z, 4.1 hours before the alert went out and 136 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, Eglin AFB/Valpar, FL at 12:00Z on 1998-04-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1443 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Eglin AFB/Valpar, FL at 12:00Z on 1998-04-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 169 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
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.

691 
WFUS1 KTLH 081604 RRA
TORTLH
ALC045-081705-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TALLAHASSEE FL
1203 PM EDT WED APR 8 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TALLAHASSEE FL HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1205 PM CDT (105 PM EDT)
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN SOUTHEASTERN ALABAMA

   ...DALE COUNTY

AT 1058 AM CDT... DOPPLER RADAR AND SPOTTER REPORTS INDICATED A
TORNADO AT FORT RUCKER MOVING EAST AT 45 MPH.

SOME LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO ARE...
OZARK                     BY 1105 AM CDT
ECHO                      BY 1120 AM CDT

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM... GO TO A SAFE PLACE.  THIS
IS A DANGEROUS SITUATION

IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SAFETY IN A NEARBY STURDY
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 Tallahassee, FL issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 8, 7:04 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEHouston31 min
Apr 8, 9:16 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEHouston64 min
Apr 8, 10:23 AM CDTTornado WarningTAECoffee62 min
Apr 8, 11:52 AM CDTTornado WarningTAECoffee63 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.