Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 177, NWS Birmingham, AL

March 13, 1997Elmore County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 13, 1997, 2:56 PM CST for Elmore County, Alabama. It was in force for 49 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 13, 1997, 2:56 PM CST (20:56 UTC)
Expired
Mar 13, 1997, 3:45 PM CST
In force
49 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Elmore County, AL

The radar

The Maxwell AFB radar (KMXX), 34 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:58 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.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Mar 13, 3:35 PM CSTHail 0.75Elmore, 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 nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 8.9 hours before the alert went out and 88 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 1997-03-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 1997-03-13The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 192 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1001 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
192 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
243 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 132056 RRA
SVRBHM
ALC051-132145-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
256 PM CST THU MAR 13 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM AL HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 345 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN CENTRAL ALABAMA

   ...EASTERN ELMORE
 
AT 255 PM CST...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS INDICATED BY WEATHER
RADAR 4 MILES SOUTHWEST OF FRIENDSHIP MOVING NORTH AT 35 MPH.

SOME LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM ARE...
FRIENDSHIP                  AROUND 259 PM CST
CLAUD                       AROUND 302 PM CST
FLOYD                       AROUND 306 PM CST
KENT                        AROUND 309 PM CST
ECLECTIC                    AROUND 310 PM CST
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 60 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 DONT
DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 13, 1:57 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMontgomery48 min
Mar 13, 2:39 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMacon46 min
Mar 13, 2:42 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXMacon, Montgomery48 min
Mar 13, 3:13 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXTallapoosa52 min
Mar 13, 3:16 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBullock, Macon49 min
Mar 13, 3:21 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXRussell49 min
Mar 13, 3:41 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLee49 min
Mar 13, 3:49 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXRussell31 min
Mar 13, 5:55 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXElmore, Macon50 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.