Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1998
Tornado Warning 8, NWS Tallahassee, FL
NWS Tallahassee, FL issued this tornado warning at May 4, 1998, 1:16 AM CDT for Houston County, Alabama. It was in force for 34 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 4, 1998, 1:16 AM CDT (06:16 UTC)
- Expired
- May 4, 1998, 1:50 AM CDT
- In force
- 34 min
- Issued by
- NWS Tallahassee, FL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Houston County, AL
The radar
The Ft Rucker radar (KEOX), 37 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 06:18 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 4, 1:28 AM CDT | Tornado F0 | Ashford, AL | Tornado spotted by public three miles east of Ashford. |
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 4, 12:00 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Tallahassee Rgnl, FL (KTLH), launched 00:00Z, 6.3 hours before the alert went out and 127 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
- 57 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -127 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 2063 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 36 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 137 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 208 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KTLH 040616 RRA TORTLH ALC069-040650- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TALLAHASSEE FL 216 AM EDT MON MAY 4 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TALLAHASSEE HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... HOUSTON COUNTY IN SOUTHEASTERN ALABAMA * UNTIL 150 AM CDT (250 AM EDT) * AT 108 AM CDT... DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A DEVELOPING TORNADO 4 MILES WEST OF ASHFORD MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH. * SOME LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO ARE... ASHFORD BY 120 AM CDT GORDON BY 125 AM CDT 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, 10:47 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE | Coffee, Dale | 48 min |
| May 3, 11:32 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE | Coffee | 63 min |
| May 3, 11:52 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE | Henry | 63 min |
| May 4, 12:10 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE | Dale, Houston | 65 min |
| May 4, 12:56 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE | Geneva, Houston | 64 min |
| May 4, 1:00 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE | Henry | 60 min |
| May 4, 1:15 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE | Geneva | 65 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.