Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 18, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jan 5, 1997, 3:00 AM CST for Clay County, Randolph County, Alabama. It was in force for 45 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
- Jan 5, 1997, 3:00 AM CST (09:00 UTC)
- Expired
- Jan 5, 1997, 3:45 AM CST
- In force
- 45 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Clay County, AL, Randolph County, AL
The radar
The Maxwell AFB radar (KMXX), 84 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 08:57 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 5, 3:15 AM CST | Thunderstorm Wind 50 | Wedowee, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 5, 2:00 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 9.0 hours before the alert went out and 105 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
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KBHM 050900 RRA SVRBHM ALC027-111-050945- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 300 AM CST SUN JAN 5 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 345 AM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... IN EAST CENTRAL ALABAMA ...EASTERN CLAY COUNTY...RANDOLPH COUNTY AT 300 AM CST RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IN EASTERN CLAY COUNTY NEAR LINEVILLE. THE STORM WAS MOVING EAST NORTHEAST AROUND 40 MPH AND WILL MOVE ACROSS RANDOLPH COUNTY BETWEEN 300 AND 345 AM. LARGE HAIL WAS INDICATED WITH THIS STORM. 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. 4
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, 2 hours 15 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, 2 hours 13 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.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 4, 9:47 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Colbert | 58 min |
| Jan 4, 9:57 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lauderdale | 48 min |
| Jan 4, 10:14 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Franklin | 61 min |
| Jan 4, 11:09 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Limestone | 66 min |
| Jan 4, 11:16 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Morgan | 59 min |
| Jan 4, 11:22 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Madison | 68 min |
| Jan 4, 11:26 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Madison | 64 min |
| Jan 5, 12:07 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Jackson | 68 min |
| Jan 5, 12:34 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Marshall | 56 min |
| Jan 5, 12:44 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | DeKalb | 61 min |
| Jan 5, 12:59 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Hale, Tuscaloosa | 46 min |
| Jan 5, 1:05 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Bibb, Jefferson, Shelby | 40 min |
| Jan 5, 1:08 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Marshall | 2 hr |
| Jan 5, 1:13 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Etowah, St. Clair | 47 min |
| Jan 5, 1:29 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Cherokee | 46 min |
| Jan 5, 1:37 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Perry | 53 min |
| Jan 5, 1:43 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Bibb, Shelby | 47 min |
| Jan 5, 1:53 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Talladega | 52 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.