Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 7, NWS Tallahassee, FL

May 3, 1998Coffee County, Alabama

NWS Tallahassee, FL issued this tornado warning at May 3, 1998, 5:13 PM CDT for Coffee County, Alabama. It was in force for 67 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: May 3, 1998, 5:13 PM CDT (22:13 UTC)
Expired: May 3, 1998, 6:20 PM CDT
In force: 67 min
Issued by: NWS Tallahassee, FL
Area: Whole counties

County Coffee County, AL

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 3, 5:30 PM CDT	Tornado F0	New Brockton, AL	Tornado downed trees and power lines at intersection of State Highways 233 and 167 near New Brockton. A funnel cloud was sighted earlier near Elba.

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.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
May 3, 2:30 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Tallahassee Rgnl, FL (KTLH), launched 12:00Z, 10.2 hours before the alert went out and 196 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: 1084 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -10 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 477 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 29 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 71 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 116 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.3
Supercell composite: 1.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

603 
WFUS1 KTLH 032215 RRA
TORTLH
ALC031-032310-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TALLAHASSEE FL
613 PM EDT SUN MAY 3 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TALLAHASSEE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  COFFEE COUNTY IN SOUTHEASTERN ALABAMA
  
* UNTIL 620 PM CDT (720 PM EDT)

* AT 511 PM CDT... DOPPLER RADAR AND SPOTTER REPORTS INDICATED A
TORNADO 33 MILES WEST   OF ENTERPRISE OR 19 MILES NORTHWEST OF
KINSTON MOVING EAST AT 55 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO ARE...
KINSTON                    BY 525 PM CDT
GOODMAN                    BY 530 PM CDT
NEW BROCKTON               BY 535 PM CDT
ENTERPRISE                 BY 540 PM CDT

IN ADDITION... THIS STORM IS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING LARGE HAIL.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS SITUATION.  ACT QUICKLY.  IF YOU ARE IN
THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO...MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF
AVAILABLE.  OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Tallahassee, FL issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 3, 2:07 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TAE	Henry	48 min
May 3, 2:21 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TAE	Henry	34 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.