Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 271, NWS Birmingham, AL

April 28, 1997DeKalb County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 28, 1997, 5:02 PM CDT for DeKalb County, Alabama. It was in force for 58 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, 5:02 PM CDT (22:02 UTC)
Expired
Apr 28, 1997, 6:00 PM CDT
In force
58 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County DeKalb County, AL

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Apr 28, 6:05 PM CDTHail 0.75Ft Payne, ALThree-quarter inch hail was reported in downtown Fort Payne.

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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Apr 28, 3:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 10.0 hours before the alert went out and 168 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.

654 
WUUS1 KHSV 282201 RRA
SVRHSV
ALC049-282300-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
502 PM CDT MON APR 28 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HUNTSVILLE HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  600 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN NORTH ALABAMA
 
   ...DEKALB COUNTY
 
SPOTTERS REPORTED DIME TO QUARTER SIZE HAIL ON IH59 NEAR COLLINSVILLE.
IT WAS MOVING TOWARDS THE NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.
 
 
WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A
STRONG BUILDING.  DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS.  DONT USE TELEPHONES
OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL THE STORM
HAS PASSED.  MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE INTO LOW WATER CROSSINGS.
 
 
 
&

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, 2:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCalhoun60 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, 5:13 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.