Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 144, NWS Birmingham, AL

February 28, 1997Coosa County, Talladega County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Feb 28, 1997, 7:51 AM CST for Coosa County, Talladega County, Alabama. It was in force for 54 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 28, 1997, 7:51 AM CST (13:51 UTC)
Expired
Feb 28, 1997, 8:45 AM CST
In force
54 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

Counties Coosa County, AL, Talladega County, AL

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 52 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 13:41 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 1.9 hours before the alert went out and 53 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 12:00Z on 1997-02-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 133 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, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 1997-02-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 286 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
133 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-43 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
508 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
55 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
286 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
334 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
2.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBHM 281352 RRA
SVRBHM
ALC037-121-281445-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
751 AM CST FRI FEB 28 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  845 AM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN CENTRAL ALABAMA
 
   ...COOSA COUNTY...TALLADEGA COUNTY
 
AT 750 AM A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING INTO NORTHWEST COOSA COUNTY
NEAR THE TOWNS OF MARBLE VALLEY AND BLUE SPRINGS AND SOUTHWEST TALLADEGA
COUNTY. THE STORMS WILL AFFECT THE CITY OF SYLACAUGA IN ABOUT 10 TO 15
MINUTES.
 
WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A
STRONG BUILDING.  DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS.  DON'T USE TELEPHONES
OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL THE STORM
HAS PASSED.  MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE INTO LOW WATER CROSSINGS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Feb 28, 8:14 AM CSTTornado WarningBMXClay46 min
Feb 28, 8:19 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXBibb3 hr
Feb 28, 8:32 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTallapoosa43 min
Feb 28, 8:41 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCoosa34 min
Feb 28, 8:53 AM CSTTornado WarningBMXClay37 min
Feb 28, 9:09 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTallapoosa36 min
Feb 28, 9:13 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXClay, Cleburne, Randolph3 hr
Feb 28, 9:13 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXCalhoun, Cherokee, Etowah3 hr
Feb 28, 9:13 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXRandolph47 min
Feb 28, 9:28 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXChambers47 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.