Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 1, NWS Birmingham, AL

January 4, 1997Colbert County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jan 4, 1997, 9:47 PM CST for Colbert County, Alabama. It was in force for 58 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jan 4, 1997, 9:47 PM CST (03:47 UTC)
Expired
Jan 4, 1997, 10:45 PM CST
In force
58 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Colbert County, AL

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Jan 4, 8:15 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 00:00Z, 3.8 hours before the alert went out and 193 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 00:00Z on 1997-01-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 153 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Nashville Metro, TN at 00:00Z on 1997-01-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 426 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
153 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-39 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
789 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
45 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
426 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
479 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

918 
WUUS1 KHSV 050348 RRA
SVRHSV
ALC033-050445-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
947 PM CST SAT JAN 4 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HUNTSVILLE HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1045 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN NORTH ALABAMA
 
   ...COLBERT COUNTY
 
AT 945 PM CST NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR IN HUNTSVILLE INDICATED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM ENTERING WESTERN COLBERT COUNTY IN NORTHWESTERN
ALABAMA NEAR ALLSBORO.
 
THE THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING EAST-NORTHEAST AT AROUND 35 MILES PER HOUR.
 
 
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS.  HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO
DONT DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 4, 9:57 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLauderdale48 min
Jan 4, 10:14 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFranklin61 min
Jan 4, 11:09 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLimestone66 min
Jan 4, 11:16 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMorgan59 min
Jan 4, 11:22 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMadison68 min
Jan 4, 11:26 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMadison64 min
Jan 5, 12:07 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJackson68 min
Jan 5, 12:34 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarshall56 min
Jan 5, 12:44 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXDeKalb61 min
Jan 5, 12:59 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXHale, Tuscaloosa46 min
Jan 5, 1:05 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBibb, Jefferson, Shelby40 min
Jan 5, 1:08 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXMarshall2 hr
Jan 5, 1:13 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXEtowah, St. Clair47 min
Jan 5, 1:29 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCherokee46 min
Jan 5, 1:37 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPerry53 min
Jan 5, 1:43 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBibb, Shelby47 min
Jan 5, 1:53 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTalladega52 min
Jan 5, 3:00 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXClay, Randolph45 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Alabama, 1997Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1997

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.