Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 342, NWS Birmingham, AL

May 26, 1997Colbert County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 26, 1997, 10:18 PM CDT for Colbert County, Alabama. It was in force for 42 min. 3 reports 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: May 26, 1997, 10:18 PM CDT (03:18 UTC)
Expired: May 26, 1997, 11:00 PM CDT
In force: 42 min
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL
Area: Whole counties

County Colbert County, AL

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where
May 26, 10:33 PM CDT	Hail 0.75	Cherokee, AL
May 26, 11:03 PM CDT	Hail 1	Tuscumbia, AL
May 26, 11:05 PM CDT	Hail 0.75	Tuscumbia, AL

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
May 26, 10:15 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 00:00Z, 3.3 hours before the alert went out and 193 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: 2010 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -8 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 634 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 38 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 100 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 153 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 1.0
Supercell composite: 6.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KHSV 270318 RRA
SVRHSV
ALC033-270400-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
1018 PM CDT MON MAY 26 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HUNTSVILLE HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1100 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN NORTH ALABAMA
 
   ...COLBERT COUNTY
 
AT 1015 PM CDT...RADAR SHOWED THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM TO BE MOVING INTO
THE NORTHWESTERN CORNER OF COLBERT COUNTY NEAR RIVERTON. IT WAS MOVING
TOWARDS THE SOUTHEAST AT 35 MPH.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM.  IF YOU ARE IN ITS PATH YOU SHOULD
PREPARE FOR DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH...LARGE HAIL...AND
DEADLY LIGHTNING.  PEOPLE OUTSIDE SHOULD MOVE TO A SHELTER...
PREFERABLY INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING BUT STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 26, 9:43 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Lauderdale	62 min
May 26, 10:53 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Colbert, Franklin	67 min
May 26, 11:01 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Marion, Winston	49 min
May 26, 11:15 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Lawrence	60 min
May 26, 11:39 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Winston	36 min
May 27, 12:04 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Cullman	61 min
May 27, 12:19 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Winston	36 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.