Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 227, NWS Birmingham, AL

April 21, 1997Calhoun County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 21, 1997, 10:38 PM CDT for Calhoun County, Alabama. It was in force for 67 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, 10:38 PM CDT (03:38 UTC)
Expired
Apr 21, 1997, 11:45 PM CDT
In force
67 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Calhoun County, AL

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 3.6 hours before the alert went out and 110 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 1997-04-22Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 912 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 1997-04-22The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 30 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
912 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-12 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1376 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
20 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
30 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
55 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 220339 RRA
SVRBHM
ALC015-220445-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
1038 PM CDT MON APR 21 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1145 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN EAST CENTRAL ALABAMA
 
   ...CALHOUN COUNTY
 
AT 10:35 PM CDT A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING INTO WESTERN CALHOUN
COUNTY. THE STORM WAS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR AND WILL
LIKELY AFFECT AREAS SUCH AS OHATCHEE AND ANNISTON. RADAR INDICATED LARGE
HAIL IS POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM.
 
WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A
STRONG BUILDING.  DO NOT S<TAND BY WINDOWS.  DON'T USE TELEPHONES
OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL THE STORM
HAS PASSED.  MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE INTO LOW WATER CROSSINGS.

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 21, 8:45 PM CDT, 1 hour 53 minutes before
ALZ016-220235-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
845 PM CDT MON APR 21 1997

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT FOR CULLMAN
COUNTY.
Special weather statement, Apr 21, 8:47 PM CDT, 1 hour 51 minutes before
ALZ011>015-220215-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
845 PM CDT MON APR 21 1997

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT FOR THE
FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN NORTHWEST ALABAMA...

MARION...WINSTON...LAMAR...FAYETTE...WALKER
Special weather statement, Apr 21, 9:11 PM CDT, 1 hour 27 minutes before
ALZ016-220235-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
845 PM CDT MON APR 21 1997

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT FOR CULLMAN
COUNTY.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 21, 7:04 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXWinston56 min
Apr 21, 7:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJackson55 min
Apr 21, 7:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLimestone55 min
Apr 21, 7:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMadison43 min
Apr 21, 11:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCleburne43 min
Apr 22, 1:03 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXShelby57 min
Apr 22, 1:12 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTalladega48 min
Apr 22, 1:33 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXClay57 min
Apr 22, 1:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFranklin66 min
Apr 22, 2:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXGreene, Hale, Marengo, Sumter48 min
Apr 22, 2:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXColbert62 min
Apr 22, 2:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBlount, Jefferson, Walker50 min
Apr 22, 2:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTuscaloosa50 min
Apr 22, 2:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXShelby48 min
Apr 22, 2:45 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXBibb35 min
Apr 22, 2:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXAutauga, Dallas, Lowndes49 min
Apr 22, 2:55 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXShelby35 min
Apr 22, 3:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXChilton47 min
Apr 22, 3:14 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXDallas46 min
Apr 22, 3:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCoosa, Talladega47 min
Apr 22, 3:25 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXElmore, Montgomery45 min
Apr 22, 3:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTallapoosa49 min
Apr 22, 3:35 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXAutauga, Lowndes50 min
Apr 22, 3:39 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXClay46 min
Apr 22, 3:52 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXLowndes48 min
Apr 22, 4:00 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXDeKalb30 min
Apr 22, 4:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXElmore, Montgomery48 min
Apr 22, 4:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXChambers, Randolph50 min
Apr 22, 4:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTallapoosa50 min
Apr 22, 4:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBullock, Macon48 min
Apr 22, 4:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLee49 min
Apr 22, 4:27 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXChambers48 min
Apr 22, 4:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarengo49 min
Apr 22, 5:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSumter48 min
Apr 22, 5:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXRussell46 min
Apr 22, 6:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXDallas49 min
Apr 22, 6:17 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXDallas43 min
Apr 22, 6:26 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXLowndes49 min
Apr 22, 6:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXAutauga, Elmore, Montgomery52 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.