Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 260, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 22, 1997, 8:49 PM CDT for Barbour County, Alabama. It was in force for 51 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.
The facts
- Issued
- Apr 22, 1997, 8:49 PM CDT (01:49 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 22, 1997, 9:40 PM CDT
- In force
- 51 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Barbour County, AL
The radar
The Ft Rucker radar (KEOX), 46 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:51 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.
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 22, 9:00 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 55 | Clio, AL | Poles were snapped, power lines were downed, and trees were snapped and uprooted. Widespread damage was also reported throughout the county. There was one injury due to a tree falling on a car. Clio is in the southwest part of the county. |
NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in.
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
Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 00:00Z, 1.8 hours before the alert went out and 187 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
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1269 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 53 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -27 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 12 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
386 WUUS1 KBHM 230151 RRA SVRBHM ALC005-230240- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 849 PM CDT TUE APR 22 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM AL HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 940 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN SOUTHEASTERN ALABAMA ...BARBOUR AT 850 PM CDT...RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO WESTERN BARBOUOR COUNTY. THE LINE EXTENDED FROM NEAR MOUNT ANDREW TO WEST OF CLIO AND WAS MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH. 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, 5 hours 22 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, 5 hours 21 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, 4 hours 5 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
Special weather statement, Apr 22, 7:40 PM CDT, 1 hour 9 minutes before
ALZ025-027>029-033>036-040-041-230100- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 740 PM CDT TUE APR 22 1997 THE TORNADO WATCH HAS BEEN CANCELLED FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN ALABAMA... ...SHELBY...BIBB...CHILTON...PERRY...DALLAS...AUTAUGA...COOSA... TALLADEGA...CLAY...RANDOLPH...
Special weather statement, Apr 22, 8:35 PM CDT, 14 minutes before
ALZ037-038-043-230200- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 835 PM CDT TUE APR 22 1997 THE TORNADO WATCH HAS BEEN CANCELLED FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN ALABAMA... ...ELMORE...TALLAPOOSA...CHAMBERS...
The office that day
Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 22, 7:14 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lowndes | 36 min |
| 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 |
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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.