Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 217, NWS Birmingham, AL

April 21, 1997Limestone County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 21, 1997, 3:41 PM CDT for Limestone County, Alabama. It was in force for 64 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 21, 1997, 3:41 PM CDT (20:41 UTC)
Expired
Apr 21, 1997, 4:45 PM CDT
In force
64 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Limestone County, AL

The watch it was issued in

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

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Apr 21, 1:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 12:00Z, 8.7 hours before the alert went out and 151 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 1997-04-21Temperature 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 1997-04-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 141 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
1346 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
67 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
141 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
278 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 KHSV 212042 RRA
SVRHSV
ALC083-212145-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
341 PM CDT MON APR 21 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HUNTSVILLE HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  445 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN NORTH ALABAMA
 
   ...LIMESTONE COUNTY
 
AT 340 PM...RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER EXTREME NORTHEASTERN
LAUDERDALE COUNTY AND IT CONTINUES TO MOVE TOWARDS THE EAST AT NEAR 30
MPH.
 
THIS STORM PRODUCED NICKEL TO HALF DOLLAR SIZED HAIL AT GREENHILL AT
333 PM AND PEA TO  MARBLE SIZE HAIL AT LEXINGTON.
BOTH OF THESE CITIES ARE ABOUT 45 MILES NORTHWEST OF HUNTSVILLE.
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER FROM THE WEATHER IN A
STRONG BUILDING.  DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN...
AND DEADLY LIGHTNING ARE ALL POSSIBLE IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.
STAY INSIDE AWAY FROM WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.
JVD
 
 
&
N

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 21, 2:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLauderdale56 min
Apr 21, 4:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXColbert, Lawrence57 min
Apr 21, 6:08 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLauderdale, Limestone67 min
Apr 21, 6:35 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMadison55 min
Apr 21, 6:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarion62 min
Apr 21, 6:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLawrence, Morgan67 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.