Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 12, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jan 5, 1997, 1:05 AM CST for Bibb County, Jefferson County, Shelby 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 5, 1997, 1:05 AM CST (07:05 UTC)
- Expired
- Jan 5, 1997, 1:45 AM CST
- In force
- 40 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Bibb County, AL, Jefferson County, AL, Shelby County, AL
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 5, 1:14 AM CST | Thunderstorm Wind 50 | Pinson, 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 watch it was issued in
The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 4, 11:15 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 5 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 7.1 hours before the alert went out and 15 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
- 826 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -7 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 864 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 41 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 174 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 265 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.7
- Supercell composite
- 3.6
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KBHM 050705 RRA SVRBHM ALC007-073-117-050745- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 105 AM CST SUN JAN 5 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 145 AM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... IN CENTRAL ALABAMA ...BIBB COUNTY...JEFFERSON COUNTY...SHELBY COUNTY AT 105 AM CST...WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS FROM THE BIRMINGHAM AREA TO GREEN POND. THE LINE OF STORMS WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 TO 45 MPH. MOST AREAS ACROSS THE MENTIONED COUNTIES WILL BE AFFECTED BY THE STORMS. IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER FROM THE WEATHER IN A STRONG BUILDING. DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN... AND DEADLY LIGHTNING ARE ALL POSSIBLE IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. STAY INSIDE AWAY FROM WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Jan 5, 12:45 AM CST, 20 minutes before
ALZ003>007-011>014-050730- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 1245 AM CST SUN JAN 5 1997 THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN NORTH ALABAMA HAVE BEEN CLEARED FROM SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 5... LIMESTONE...MADISON...FRANKLIN...LAWRENCE...MORGAN...MARION... WINSTON...LAMAR...FAYETTE.
Special weather statement, Jan 5, 12:47 AM CST, 18 minutes before
ALZ003>007-011>014-050730- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 1245 AM CST SUN JAN 5 1997 THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN NORTH ALABAMA HAVE BEEN CLEARED FROM SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 5... LIMESTONE...MADISON...FRANKLIN...LAWRENCE...MORGAN...MARION... WINSTON...LAMAR...FAYETTE.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 4, 9:47 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Colbert | 58 min |
| Jan 4, 9:57 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lauderdale | 48 min |
| Jan 4, 10:14 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Franklin | 61 min |
| Jan 4, 11:09 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Limestone | 66 min |
| Jan 4, 11:16 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Morgan | 59 min |
| Jan 4, 11:22 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Madison | 68 min |
| Jan 4, 11:26 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Madison | 64 min |
| Jan 5, 12:07 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Jackson | 68 min |
| Jan 5, 12:34 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Marshall | 56 min |
| Jan 5, 12:44 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | DeKalb | 61 min |
| Jan 5, 12:59 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Hale, Tuscaloosa | 46 min |
| Jan 5, 1:08 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Marshall | 2 hr |
| Jan 5, 1:13 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Etowah, St. Clair | 47 min |
| Jan 5, 1:29 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Cherokee | 46 min |
| Jan 5, 1:37 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Perry | 53 min |
| Jan 5, 1:43 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Bibb, Shelby | 47 min |
| Jan 5, 1:53 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Talladega | 52 min |
| Jan 5, 3:00 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Clay, Randolph | 45 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.