1998 — Apr 8, Tornadoes, Jefferson Co. tornado (32); St. Clair Co. tornado (2), AL — 34
— 34 NWS Weather Forecast Office, Birmingham, AL. April 8, 1998 Tornado. 6-17-2012 mod.
–32 NCDC/NOAA. Event Record Details, Tornado, AL, Jefferson County, 8 Apr 1998.
— 2 NCDC/NOAA. Event Record Details, Tornado, AL, St. Clair County, 8 Apr 1998.
— 32 Oak Grove/Birmingham Tornado. Legates and Biddle. Quick Response Report #116, p. 2.
— 32 National Weather Service WFO Birmingham, AL. Alabama Tornado Database.
— 32 National Weather Service WFO Birmingham, AL. Top Ten Weather Events 20th Cent. AL
— 32 Tornado Project Online. US Killer Tornadoes of 1998.
Narrative Information
NWS WFO Birmingham, AL: “Pickens/Tuscaloosa. There were three tornadoes that have been identified as being produced by one thunderstorm that moved across central Alabama Wednesday evening [April 8]. The first tornado affected Pickens and Tuscaloosa counties, the second affected Tuscaloosa and Jefferson counties, and the third affected St. Clair County.
“The first of three tornadoes began in extreme eastern Pickens County, just southeast of Gordo, at 7:01 pm CDT. The tornado travelled on an east-northeast track moving into Tuscaloosa County around 7:05 pm CDT. The tornado stayed in a mostly rural area through it’s life span crossing CR 21, moving just north of Lake Lurleen, crossing US 43, and dissipating at Lake Tuscaloosa just south of where SR 69 crosses the lake. The tornado ended at 7:29 pm CDT. There were no reported deaths and only two injuries in Tuscaloosa County. This tornado was rated an F3 and had a path length of 17.4 miles. Path width was estimated to be 250 yards wide.
“Oak Grove Tornado, Jefferson County. The second tornado produced by the supercell thunderstorm is the most significant tornado to impact Alabama since 1977. It first touched down in eastern Tuscaloosa County at 7:42 pm CDT just east of the Warrior River and moved into Jefferson County at approximately 7:50 pm CDT. Aerial surveys conducted by the National Weather Service with the help of the Alabama State Troopers Aviation Unit and the Civil Air Patrol determined that the tornado that ripped across west Jefferson County Wednesday night, April 8 th was an F5 tornado, the most violent tornado that occurs. F5 tornadoes have winds in excess of 260 miles per hour….
“The tornado track was approximately 30.6 miles long and at it’s widest point was half a mile wide. After first touching down on the east side of the Warrior River in Tuscaloosa County, the tornado crossed into Jefferson County at 7:52 pm moving just south of the town of Scrap, just inside Jefferson County. It traveled east-northeast impacting Oak Grove, Concord, Pleasant Grove, Edgewater, McDonald’s Chapel areas before ending in Pratt City. The storm reached it’s strongest intensity producing F5 damage in the Concord area and the McDonalds Chapel/Edgewater area. Interestingly, the tornado was on a trajectory that if it had stayed on the ground for an additional two or three miles the high rises in downtown Birmingham would have been affected; four more miles and the Birmingham Airport would have seen the destruction as well. The latest death toll with this storm was 32, with more than 250 injuries. More than 1000 homes were destroyed and more than 900 homes with significant damage. This death toll places this tornado as the seventh deadliest tornado in Alabama, moving one ahead of a tornado which produced 31 deaths on March 21 st, 1932.
“St. Clair County Tornado. In St. Clair County, the tornado began just north of Moody and continued on a east-northeast track for approximately 14.4 miles. This tornado was rated as an F2 on the Fujita Scale. Two deaths were reported in St. Clair County, both of them in one mobile home. This tornado began just west of US 411 around 8:56 pm CDT and almost immediately destroyed the Bethel Baptist Church, a large portion of which was under construction. The tornado traveled through primarily rural, relatively unpopulated areas before dissipating at 9:15 pm CDT after moving through Wattsville..”
Sources
Legates, David R. and Matthew D. Biddle. Quick Response Report #116: Warning Response and Risk Behavior in the Oak Grove-Birmingham, Alabama Tornado of 08 April 1998. Boulder, CO: Natural Hazards Center, University of Colorado at Boulder. 1999. Accessed 5-25-2016 at: http://www2.cde.state.co.us/artemis/ucbmonos/ucb65715116internet/ucb65715116internet.pdf
National Climatic Data Center. Event Record Details, Tornado, Alabama, 8 Apr 1998, Jefferson County. NCDC, NOAA, Department of Commerce. Accessed 2-5-2009 at: http://www4.ncdc.noaa.gov/cgi-win/wwcgi.dll?wwevent~ShowEvent~310041
National Climatic Data Center. Event Record Details, Tornado, Alabama, 8 Apr 1998, St. Clair County. NCDC, NOAA, Department of Commerce. Accessed 2-5-2009 at: http://www4.ncdc.noaa.gov/cgi-win/wwcgi.dll?wwevent~ShowEvent~310062
National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office, Birmingham, AL. Alabama Tornado Database. NWS/NOAA. Accessed 1-4-2009 at: http://www.srh.noaa.gov/bmx/tornadoes/mainlist2.php
National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office, Birmingham, AL. April 8, 1998 Tornado (website). NWS/NOAA, 6-17-2012 (last modification). Accessed 1-12-2016 at: http://www.srh.noaa.gov/bmx/?n=event_04081998
Tornado Project Online. US Killer Tornadoes of 1998. Accessed 1-4-2009 at: http://www.tornadoproject.com/