Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 106, NWS Birmingham, AL

January 28, 1997Hale County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jan 28, 1997, 12:35 AM CST for Hale County, Alabama. It was in force for 40 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
Jan 28, 1997, 12:35 AM CST (06:35 UTC)
Expired
Jan 28, 1997, 1:15 AM CST
In force
40 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Hale County, AL

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 92 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 06:39 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
Jan 28, 1:00 AM CSTThunderstorm Wind 50Greensboro, AL

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 nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 6.6 hours before the alert went out and 92 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, Birmingham, AL at 00:00Z on 1997-01-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Birmingham, AL at 00:00Z on 1997-01-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 434 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
762 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
434 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
523 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBHM 280637 RRA
SVRBHM
ALC065-280715-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
1235 AM CST TUE JAN 28 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  115 AM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA
 
   ...HALE COUNTY
 
AT 1235 AM CST...WEATHER RADAR SHOWED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS MOVING OVER
HALE COUNTY IN THE AKRON AREA. THE STORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 30 TO 35
MILES AN HOUR AND WILL AFFECT MOST LOCATIONS ACROSS THE COUNTY.
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
FOR YOUjR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS.  HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO
DON'T 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 28, 12:43 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBibb47 min
Jan 28, 12:52 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXShelby53 min
Jan 28, 2:05 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCoosa25 min
Jan 28, 2:51 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTallapoosa39 min
Jan 28, 3:17 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXChambers28 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.