Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 214, NWS Birmingham, AL

April 5, 1997Dallas County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 5, 1997, 2:21 PM CST for Dallas County, Alabama. It was in force for 44 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, 2:21 PM CST (20:21 UTC)
Expired
Apr 5, 1997, 3:05 PM CST
In force
44 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Dallas 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, 8.4 hours before the alert went out and 100 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 052021 RRA
SVRBHM
ALC047-052105-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
221 PM CST SAT APR 5 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM AL HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 305 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN CENTRAL ALABAMA

   ...DALLAS
 
AT 219 PM CST...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS INDICATED BY WEATHER
RADAR 14 MILES WEST OF RICHMOND MOVING EAST AT 50 MPH.

SOME LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM ARE...
RICHMOND                    AROUND 232 PM CST
CARLOWVILLE                 AROUND 233 PM CST
MINTER                      AROUND 235 PM CST
SARDIS                      AROUND 241 PM CST
PLEASANT HILL               AROUND 243 PM CST
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE... SEEK REFUGE FROM THE STORM IN A
STRONG BUILDING. BOATERS ON AREA LAKES SHOULD TAKE SHELTER.
DAMAGING WIND... LARGE HAIL... VERY HEAVY RAIN... AND DANGEROUS
LIGHTNING ARE ALL LIKELY. DO NOT SEEK SHELTER UNDER TREES OR OTHER
ISOLATED TALL OBJECTS. THESE ATTRACT LIGHTNING. DO NOT DRIVE INTO
AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.

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, Apr 5, 2:16 PM CST, 5 minutes before
ALZ011>016-022-023-030>032-039-052050-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
216 PM CST SAT APR 5 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS CANCELLED THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
WATCH FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN WEST ALABAMA...

MARION...WINSTON...CULLMAN...LAMAR...FAYETTE...WALKER...PICKENS...
TUSCALOOSA...SUMTER...GREENE...HALE...MARENGO

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, 11:56 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSumter49 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.