Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 166, NWS Birmingham, AL

March 5, 1997Marion County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 5, 1997, 12:31 PM CST for Marion County, Alabama. It was in force for 64 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
Mar 5, 1997, 12:31 PM CST (18:31 UTC)
Expired
Mar 5, 1997, 1:35 PM CST
In force
64 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Marion County, AL

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Mar 5, 1:25 PM CSTThunderstorm Wind 50Haleyville, 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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Mar 5, 11:30 AM CSTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 6.5 hours before the alert went out and 148 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 1997-03-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 26 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 1997-03-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 118 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
26 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-139 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
616 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
118 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
178 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 KBHM 051831 RRA
SVRBHM
ALC093-051935-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
1231 PM CST WED MAR 5 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM AL HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 135 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN NORTHERN ALABAMA

   ...MARION
 
AT 1228 PM CST...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS INDICATED BY WEATHER
RADAR 9 MILES WEST OF SHOTSVILLE MOVING EAST AT 45 MPH.

SOME LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM ARE...

BEXAR                       BY 1239 PM CST
SHOTSVILLE                  BY 1240 PM CST
HAMILTON                    BY 1250 PM CST
HACKLEBURG                  BY 103 PM CST
FAIRVIEW                    BY 106 PM CST

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.
 
WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING... PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A
STRONG BUILDING. DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS. DO NOT USE TELEPHONES OR
ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL THE STORM HAS
PASSED. MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DR>IVE INTO LOW WATER CROSSINGS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 5, 11:58 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXColbert, Lauderdale62 min
Mar 5, 12:19 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFranklin56 min
Mar 5, 1:05 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXWinston50 min
Mar 5, 1:23 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLawrence, Limestone67 min
Mar 5, 1:35 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMadison, Morgan55 min
Mar 5, 1:46 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCullman64 min
Mar 5, 1:49 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXMadison41 min
Mar 5, 2:28 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBlount47 min
Mar 5, 2:35 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJackson, Marshall55 min
Mar 5, 2:58 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXEtowah62 min
Mar 5, 3:07 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXDeKalb68 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.