Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 172, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 5, 1997, 2:35 PM CST for Jackson County, Marshall County, Alabama. It was in force for 55 min. 3 reports 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, 2:35 PM CST (20:35 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 5, 1997, 3:30 PM CST
- In force
- 55 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Jackson County, AL, Marshall County, AL
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 5, 2:35 PM CST | Thunderstorm Wind 55 | Arab, AL | |
| Mar 5, 3:00 PM CST | Thunderstorm Wind | Guntersville, AL | |
| Mar 5, 3:00 PM CST | Thunderstorm Wind 50 | Albertville, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 5, 11:30 AM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 8.6 hours before the alert went out and 165 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
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KHSV 052035 RRA SVRHSV ALC071-095-052130- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL 235 PM CST WED MAR 5 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HUNTSVILLE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 330 PM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONSS... IN NORTH ALABAMA ...JACKSON COUNTY...MARSHALL COUNTY AT 234 PM CST RADAR AT HUNTSVILLE SHOWED POSSIBLY SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER SECTIONS OF MARSHALL COUNTY MOVING INTO JACKSON COUNTY. MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AT 40 MILES AN HOUR. 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.
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
Local storm report, Mar 5, 1:54 PM CST, 41 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM ALABAMA
154 PM CST WED MAR 05 1997
TIME(CST) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0125 PM HALEYVILLE AL WIND DAMAGE
03/05/97 WINSTON STRUCTURE DAMAGE TO A
HOUSE IN HALEYVILLE.The office that day
Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 5, 11:58 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Colbert, Lauderdale | 62 min |
| Mar 5, 12:19 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Franklin | 56 min |
| Mar 5, 12:31 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Marion | 64 min |
| Mar 5, 1:05 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Winston | 50 min |
| Mar 5, 1:23 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lawrence, Limestone | 67 min |
| Mar 5, 1:35 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Madison, Morgan | 55 min |
| Mar 5, 1:46 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Cullman | 64 min |
| Mar 5, 1:49 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Madison | 41 min |
| Mar 5, 2:28 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Blount | 47 min |
| Mar 5, 2:58 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Etowah | 62 min |
| Mar 5, 3:07 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | DeKalb | 68 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.