Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 139, NWS Birmingham, AL

February 27, 1997Franklin County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Feb 27, 1997, 1:32 AM CST for Franklin 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: Feb 27, 1997, 1:32 AM CST (07:32 UTC)
Expired: Feb 27, 1997, 2:30 AM CST
In force: 58 min
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL
Area: Whole counties

County Franklin County, AL

The watch it was issued in

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

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Feb 27, 12:15 AM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 7.5 hours before the alert went out and 171 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 1 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 612 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 44 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 260 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 316 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KHSV 270734 COR
SVRHSV
ALC059-270830-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
132 AM CST THU FEB 27 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HUNTSVILLE HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  230 AM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...

IN NORTH ALABAMA

   ...FRANKLIN COUNTY

AT 129 AM CST WEATHER SERVICE RADAR IN HUNTSVILLE INDICATED A LINE OF
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING FROM EAST OF CLOVERDALE IN LAUDERDALE
COUNTY TO NEAR COLBERT HEIGHTS IN IN COLBERT COUNTY...TO VINA IN
SOUTHWEST FRANKLIN COUNTY.

MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AT 50 TO 55 MILES AN HOUR.

DURING THE PAST HOUR SHEFFIELD IN COLBERT COUNTY REPORTED POWER LINES
DOWN.

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
DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.

A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THE WARNED AREA.  REMEMBER
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES
WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING.  REMAIN CALM BUT BE ALERT TO
RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Feb 27, 1:03 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Colbert, Lauderdale	57 min
Feb 27, 1:28 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Lamar, Marion	47 min
Feb 27, 1:56 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Colbert	64 min
Feb 27, 2:06 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Lawrence	69 min
Feb 27, 2:30 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Limestone	60 min
Feb 27, 2:58 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Lawrence, Morgan	62 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Alabama, 1997 Every 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.