Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 15, NWS Birmingham, AL

January 5, 1997Perry County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jan 5, 1997, 1:37 AM CST for Perry County, Alabama. It was in force for 53 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 5, 1997, 1:37 AM CST (07:37 UTC)
Expired
Jan 5, 1997, 2:30 AM CST
In force
53 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Perry County, AL

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 7.6 hours before the alert went out and 77 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 1997-01-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 826 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 00:00Z on 1997-01-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 174 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBHM 050737 RRA
SVRBHM
ALC105-050830-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
137 AM CST SUN JAN 5 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  230 AM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN CENTRAL ALABAMA
 
   ...PERRY COUNTY
 
AT 136 AM CST...WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
MOVING OVER THE MORGAN SPRINGS AREA OF PERRY COUNTY. THE STORMS WERE
MOVING EAST NORTHEAST AT 40 TO 45 MPH. THESE STORMS WILL AFFECT MOST
LOCATIONS ACROSS PERRY COUNTY.
 
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.

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, 52 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, 50 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.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 4, 9:47 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXColbert58 min
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, 1:43 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.