Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 265, NWS Birmingham, AL

April 28, 1997Etowah County, St. Clair County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 28, 1997, 2:52 PM CDT for Etowah County, St. Clair County, Alabama. It was in force for 63 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, 2:52 PM CDT (19:52 UTC)
Expired: Apr 28, 1997, 3:55 PM CDT
In force: 63 min
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL
Area: Whole counties

Counties Etowah County, AL, St. Clair County, AL

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 96 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:55 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 28, 3:15 PM CDT	Hail 0.75	Rainbow City, AL	Three-quarter inch hail was reported in Rainbow City, in the southern 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, 7.9 hours before the alert went out and 96 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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.

859 
WUUS1 KBHM 281954 RRA
SVRBHM
ALC055-115-282055-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM AL HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 355 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...

IN NORTHERN ALABAMA

   ...ETOWAH

IN CENTRAL ALABAMA

   ...ST. CLAIR
 
AT 250 PM CDT...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS INDICATED BY WEATHER
RADAR 10 MILES SOUTHWEST OF SOUTHSIDE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

SOME LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM ARE...
RAINBOW CITY                AROUND 302 PM CDT
SOUTHSIDE                   AROUND 303 PM CDT
GADSDEN                     AROUND 311 PM CDT
GLENCOE                     AROUND 315 PM CDT
HOKES BLUFF                 AROUND 324 PM CDT
 
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.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 28, 1:10 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	St. Clair	30 min
Apr 28, 1:46 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Talladega	34 min
Apr 28, 2:10 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Calhoun	60 min
Apr 28, 3:53 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Cherokee	62 min
Apr 28, 4:16 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Blount	49 min
Apr 28, 4:46 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Etowah	64 min
Apr 28, 4:49 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Marshall	56 min
Apr 28, 4:56 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Cullman, Winston	64 min
Apr 28, 5:02 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	DeKalb	58 min
Apr 28, 5:13 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Limestone, Madison	62 min
Apr 28, 5:21 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	St. Clair	49 min
Apr 28, 5:40 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Blount	65 min
Apr 28, 5:51 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	DeKalb	69 min
Apr 28, 6:08 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	St. Clair	32 min
Apr 28, 6:15 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Etowah	2 hr
Apr 28, 6:15 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Marshall	60 min
Apr 28, 6:27 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Etowah	48 min
Apr 28, 6:31 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Marshall	59 min
Apr 28, 6:44 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Calhoun	66 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Alabama, 1997 Every 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.