Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 213, NWS Birmingham, AL

April 5, 1997Sumter County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 5, 1997, 11:56 AM CST for Sumter County, Alabama. It was in force for 49 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
Apr 5, 1997, 11:56 AM CST (17:56 UTC)
Expired
Apr 5, 1997, 12:45 PM CST
In force
49 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Sumter County, AL

The watch it was issued in

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

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Apr 5, 11:45 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 5.9 hours before the alert went out and 148 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 1997-04-05Temperature 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 1997-04-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 316 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
872 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
51 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
316 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
351 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 051756 RRA
SVRBHM
ALC119-051845-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
1156 AM CST SAT APR 5 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1245 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA
 
   ...SUMTER COUNTY
 
AT 1155 AM CST A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED OVER LAUDERDALE COUNTY
MISSISSIPPI AND WAS MOVING TOWARD SUMTER COUNTY ALABAMA AT 50 MILES AN
HOUR. THIS STORM WILL LIKELY PRODUCE DAMAGING WINDS.
 
 
WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A
STRONG BUILDING.  DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS.  DON'T USE TELEPHONES
OR ELECTR@ICAL APPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL THE STORM
HAS PASSED.  MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE INTO LOW WATER CROSSINGS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 5, 11:12 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLamar, Marion48 min
Apr 5, 11:18 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFranklin57 min
Apr 5, 2:21 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXDallas44 min
Apr 5, 2:47 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLowndes63 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.