Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 197, NWS Birmingham, AL

March 29, 1997Etowah County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 29, 1997, 1:10 AM CST for Etowah County, Alabama. It was in force for 65 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 29, 1997, 1:10 AM CST (07:10 UTC)
Expired: Mar 29, 1997, 2:15 AM CST
In force: 65 min
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL
Area: Whole counties

County Etowah County, AL

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 7.2 hours before the alert went out and 118 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 1329 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -20 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1429 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 56 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 141 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 275 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.8
Supercell composite: 8.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

694 
WUUS1 KBHM 290711 RRA
SVRBHM
ALC055-290815-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
110 AM CST SAT MAR 29 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM AL HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 215 AM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN NORTHERN ALABAMA

   ...ETOWAH
 
AT 108 AM CST...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS INDICATED BY WEATHER
RADAR 16 MILES WEST OF RAINBOW CITY MOVING EAST AT 45 MPH.

SOME LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM ARE...
RAINBOW CITY                AROUND 122 AM CST
SOUTHSIDE                   AROUND 124 AM CST
GADSDEN                     AROUND 125 AM CST
GLENCOE                     AROUND 130 AM CST
HOKES BLUFF                 AROUND 135 AM CST
 
THIS THUNDERSTORM IS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING LARGE HAIL
WHICH MAY CAUSE SEVERE DAMAGE TO PROPERTY AND SERIOUS INJURY TO
PEOPLE AND LIVESTOCK. DAMAGING WINDS AND TORRENTIAL RAIN ARE ALSO
LIKELY WITH THIS STORM. MOVE TO A STURDY BUILDING AND STAY AWAY
FROM WINDOWS.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 28, 8:56 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Lauderdale	64 min
Mar 28, 10:32 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Lawrence	58 min
Mar 28, 10:47 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Morgan	58 min
Mar 29, 12:13 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Cullman	32 min
Mar 29, 12:20 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Walker	50 min
Mar 29, 12:25 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Blount	65 min
Mar 29, 12:39 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	DeKalb	66 min
Mar 29, 1:04 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	St. Clair	31 min
Mar 29, 1:23 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Calhoun	62 min
Mar 29, 1:30 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Cherokee	35 min
Mar 29, 2:00 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	St. Clair	20 min
Mar 29, 2:45 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Calhoun	30 min
Mar 29, 2:51 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Cleburne	64 min
Mar 29, 5:11 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Russell	49 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Alabama, 1997 Every 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.