Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 264, NWS Birmingham, AL

April 28, 1997Calhoun County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 28, 1997, 2:10 PM CDT for Calhoun County, Alabama. It was in force for 60 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 28, 1997, 2:10 PM CDT (19:10 UTC)
Expired
Apr 28, 1997, 3:10 PM CDT
In force
60 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Calhoun County, AL

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 110 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:14 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Apr 28, 2:55 PM CDTHail 1Bynum, ALHail the size of quarters was reported in Bynum, 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 nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 7.2 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 12:00Z on 1997-04-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 263 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 12:00Z on 1997-04-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 134 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
263 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-100 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
504 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
77 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
134 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
152 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

657 
WUUS1 KBHM 281911 RRA
SVRBHM
ALC015-282010-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
210 PM CDT MON APR 28 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM AL HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 310 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN EAST CENTRAL ALABAMA

   ...CALHOUN
 
AT 207 PM CDT...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS INDICATED BY WEATHER
RADAR 6 MILES SOUTHWEST OF BYNUM MOVING NORTHEAST AT 15 MPH.

SOME LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM ARE...
BYNUM                       AROUND 224 PM CDT
HOBSON CITY                 AROUND 243 PM CDT
OXFORD                      AROUND 244 PM CDT
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE... SEEK REFUGE FROM THE STORM IN A
STRONG BUILDING. BOATERS ON AREA LAKES SHOULD TAKE SHELTER.
DAMAGING WIND... LARGE HAIL... VERY HEAVY RAIN... AND DANGEROUS
LIGHTNING ARE ALL LIKELY. DO NOT SEEK SHELTER UNDER TREES OR OTHER
ISOLATED TALL OBJECTS. THESE ATTRACT LIGHTNING. DO NOT DRIVE INTO
AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 28, 1:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSt. Clair30 min
Apr 28, 1:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTalladega34 min
Apr 28, 2:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXEtowah, St. Clair63 min
Apr 28, 3:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCherokee62 min
Apr 28, 4:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBlount49 min
Apr 28, 4:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXEtowah64 min
Apr 28, 4:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarshall56 min
Apr 28, 4:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCullman, Winston64 min
Apr 28, 5:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXDeKalb58 min
Apr 28, 5:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLimestone, Madison62 min
Apr 28, 5:21 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSt. Clair49 min
Apr 28, 5:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBlount65 min
Apr 28, 5:51 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXDeKalb69 min
Apr 28, 6:08 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSt. Clair32 min
Apr 28, 6:15 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXEtowah2 hr
Apr 28, 6:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarshall60 min
Apr 28, 6:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXEtowah48 min
Apr 28, 6:31 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXMarshall59 min
Apr 28, 6:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCalhoun66 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.