Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 256, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 22, 1997, 7:14 PM CDT for Lowndes County, Alabama. It was in force for 36 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, 7:14 PM CDT (00:14 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 22, 1997, 7:50 PM CDT
- In force
- 36 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Lowndes County, AL
The watch it was issued in
The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 22, 2:45 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 0.2 hours before the alert went out and 115 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
- 105 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -265 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 799 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 67 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 239 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 235 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.6
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
824 WUUS1 KBHM 230015 RRA SVRBHM ALC085-230050- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 714 PM CDT TUE APR 22 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM AL HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 750 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN CENTRAL ALABAMA ...LOWNDES AT 0713 PM CDT...WEATHER RADAR CONTINUED TO SHOW A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS MOVING ACROSS LOWNDES COUNTY FROM THE BURKVILLE AREA TO JUST WEST OF FORT DEPOSIT. THE STORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH... DESTRUCTIVE HAIL... DEADLY LIGHTNING... AND VERY HEAVY RAIN. FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS. HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO DONT DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD. A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THE WARNED AREA. REMEMBER... SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING. REMAIN CALM BUT BE ALERT FOR RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS.
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 22, 3:27 PM CDT, 3 hours 47 minutes before
ALZ001>004-011>015-022-023-030>032-039-222130- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 327 PM CDT TUE APR 22 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS CANCELLED THE TORNADO WATCH FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN WEST ALABAMA... LAUDERDALE..COLBERT..FRANKLIN...LAWRENCE..MARION..WINSTON.. LAMAR..FAYETTE..WALKER..PICKENS..TUSCALOOSA..GREENE..HALE.. SUMTER..MARENGO.
Special weather statement, Apr 22, 3:28 PM CDT, 3 hours 46 minutes before
ALZ001>004-011>015-022-023-030>032-039-222130- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 327 PM CDT TUE APR 22 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS CANCELLED THE TORNADO WATCH FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN WEST ALABAMA... LAUDERDALE..COLBERT..FRANKLIN...LAWRENCE..MARION..WINSTON.. LAMAR..FAYETTE..WALKER..PICKENS..TUSCALOOSA..GREENE..HALE.. SUMTER..MARENGO.
Special weather statement, Apr 22, 4:44 PM CDT, 2 hours 30 minutes before
ALZ009-010-016>021-024-026-222215- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 442 PM CDT TUE APR 22 1997 THE TORNADO WATCH HAS BEEN CANCELLED FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES... IN ALABAMA ...JACKSON... DEKALB... CULLMAN... BLOUNT... ETOWAH... CALHOUN ...CHEROKEE... CLEBURNE... JEFFERSON... ST. CLAIR
The office that day
Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 22, 7:20 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Macon, Tallapoosa | 50 min |
| Apr 22, 7:44 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Montgomery | 46 min |
| Apr 22, 8:36 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Pike | 29 min |
| Apr 22, 8:49 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Barbour | 51 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.