Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 231, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 22, 1997, 1:33 AM CDT for Clay County, Alabama. It was in force for 57 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 22, 1997, 1:33 AM CDT (06:33 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 22, 1997, 2:30 AM CDT
- In force
- 57 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Clay County, AL
The radar
The Maxwell AFB radar (KMXX), 82 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 06:34 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.
Open the radar archive at this moment
The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.
The nearest sounding before it
Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 6.6 hours before the alert went out and 86 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.
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KBHM 220635 RRA SVRBHM ALC027-220730- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 133 AM CDT TUE APR 22 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 230 AM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN EAST CENTRAL ALABAMA ...CLAY COUNTY AT 130 AM RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDESTORM ENTERING NORTHWEST CLAY COUNTY NEAR THE TOWN OF PYRITON. OTHER SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL ENTER WESTERN CLAY COUNTY AND MOVE NEAR THE TOWN OF MILLERVILLE. THESE STORMS WERE MOVING EAST-SOUTHEAST AT 20 TO 30 MPH. WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING. DO NOT STAND 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, 4 hours 48 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, 4 hours 46 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, 4 hours 22 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.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 21, 7:04 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Winston | 56 min |
| Apr 21, 7:20 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Jackson | 55 min |
| Apr 21, 7:20 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Limestone | 55 min |
| Apr 21, 7:32 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Madison | 43 min |
| Apr 21, 10:38 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Calhoun | 67 min |
| Apr 21, 11:17 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Cleburne | 43 min |
| Apr 22, 1:03 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Shelby | 57 min |
| Apr 22, 1:12 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Talladega | 48 min |
| Apr 22, 1:54 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Franklin | 66 min |
| Apr 22, 2:02 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Greene, Hale, Marengo, Sumter | 48 min |
| Apr 22, 2:13 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Colbert | 62 min |
| Apr 22, 2:30 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Blount, Jefferson, Walker | 50 min |
| Apr 22, 2:40 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Tuscaloosa | 50 min |
| Apr 22, 2:42 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Shelby | 48 min |
| Apr 22, 2:45 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Bibb | 35 min |
| Apr 22, 2:51 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Autauga, Dallas, Lowndes | 49 min |
| Apr 22, 2:55 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Shelby | 35 min |
| Apr 22, 3:03 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Chilton | 47 min |
| Apr 22, 3:14 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Dallas | 46 min |
| Apr 22, 3:18 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Coosa, Talladega | 47 min |
| Apr 22, 3:25 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Elmore, Montgomery | 45 min |
| Apr 22, 3:31 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Tallapoosa | 49 min |
| Apr 22, 3:35 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Autauga, Lowndes | 50 min |
| Apr 22, 3:39 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Clay | 46 min |
| Apr 22, 3:52 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Lowndes | 48 min |
| Apr 22, 4:00 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | DeKalb | 30 min |
| Apr 22, 4:02 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Elmore, Montgomery | 48 min |
| Apr 22, 4:10 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Chambers, Randolph | 50 min |
| Apr 22, 4:15 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Tallapoosa | 50 min |
| Apr 22, 4:17 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Bullock, Macon | 48 min |
| Apr 22, 4:26 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lee | 49 min |
| Apr 22, 4:27 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Chambers | 48 min |
| Apr 22, 4:46 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Marengo | 49 min |
| Apr 22, 5:02 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Sumter | 48 min |
| Apr 22, 5:14 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Russell | 46 min |
| Apr 22, 6:06 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Dallas | 49 min |
| Apr 22, 6:17 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Dallas | 43 min |
| Apr 22, 6:26 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Lowndes | 49 min |
| Apr 22, 6:53 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Autauga, Elmore, Montgomery | 52 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.