Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 181, NWS Birmingham, AL

March 13, 1997Tallapoosa County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 13, 1997, 6:08 PM CST for Tallapoosa County, Alabama. It was in force for 52 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
Mar 13, 1997, 6:08 PM CST (00:08 UTC)
Expired
Mar 13, 1997, 7:00 PM CST
In force
52 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Tallapoosa County, AL

The radar

The Maxwell AFB radar (KMXX), 36 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:10 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.

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Mar 13, 5:00 PM CSTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 0.1 hours before the alert went out and 98 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 1997-03-14Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 70 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 1997-03-14The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 83 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
70 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-3 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
558 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
83 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
96 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

241 
WUUS1 KBHM 140008 RRA
SVRBHM
ALC123-140100-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
608 PM CST THU MAR 13 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  700 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN EAST CENTRAL ALABAMA
 
   ...TALLAPOOSA COUNTY
 
AT 608 PM RADAR INDICATED A SHORT LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ENTERING
THE SOUTHWEST SECTIONS OF THE COUNTY. THESE STORMS WERE MOVING
EAST-NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.
 
 
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 13, 5:05 PM CST, 1 hour 3 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM ALABAMA
505 PM CST THU MAR 13 1997

TIME(EST)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0525 PM    COLUMBUS                  GA   TORNADO
03/13/97   MUSCOGEE                       DAMAGE TO A HOMEQUARTERS
                                          SHOPPING CENTER IN
                                          NORTHERN COLUMBUS.
                                          NUMEROUS FIRES REPORTED.
                                          DEBRIS ALL ALONG
                                          INTERSTATE 185 IN THE CITY

0525 PM    COLUMBUS METRO ARPT       GA   TORNADO
03/13/97   MUSCOGEE                       TORNADO TOUCHDOWN AT THE
                                          COLUMBUS, GA AIRPORT.
                                          DAMAGE REPORTED TO THE
                                          FRONT OF ONE OF THE
                                          TERMINAL BUILDINGS.
                                          DEBRIS ALL AROUND AIRPORT.

*ALL TIMES ARE REPORTED IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME
Local storm report, Mar 13, 5:08 PM CST, 1 hour before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM ALABAMA
505 PM CST THU MAR 13 1997

TIME(EST)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0425 PM    COLUMBUS                  GA   TORNADO
03/13/97   MUSCOGEE                       DAMAGE TO A HOMEQUARTERS
                                          SHOPPING CENTER IN
                                          NORTHERN COLUMBUS.
                                          NUMEROUS FIRES REPORTED.
                                          DEBRIS ALL ALONG
                                          INTERSTATE 185 IN THE CITY

0425 PM    COLUMBUS METRO ARPT       GA   TORNADO
03/13/97   MUSCOGEE                       TORNADO TOUCHDOWN AT THE
                                          COLUMBUS, GA AIRPORT.
                                          DAMAGE REPORTED TO THE
                                          FRONT OF ONE OF THE
 V                                         TERMINAL BUILDINGS.
                                          DEBRIS ALL AROUND AIRPORT.

*ALL TIMES ARE REPORTED IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME
Local storm report, Mar 13, 5:09 PM CST, 59 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM ALABAMA
505 PM CST THU MAR 13 1997

TIME(EST)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0525 PM    COLUMBUS                  GA   TORNADO
03/13/97   MUSCOGEE                       DAMAGE TO A HOMEQUARTERS
                                          SHOPPING CENTER IN
                                          NORTHERN COLUMBUS.
                                          NUMEROUS FIRES REPORTED.
                                          DEBRIS ALL ALONG
                                          INTERSTATE 185 IN THE CITY

0525 PM    COLUMBUS METRO ARPT       GA   TORNADO
03/13/97   MUSCOGEE                       TORNADO TOUCHDOWN AT THE
                                          COLUMBUS, GA AIRPORT.
                                          DAMAGE REPORTED TO THE
                                          FRONT OF ONE OF THbE
                                          TERMINAL BUILDINGS.
                                          DEBRIS ALL AROUND AIRPORT.

*ALL TIMES ARE REPORTED IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 13, 7:01 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLee44 min
Mar 13, 9:07 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBarbour38 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.