Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 344, NWS Birmingham, AL

May 26, 1997Lawrence County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 26, 1997, 11:15 PM CDT for Lawrence County, Alabama. It was in force for 60 min. 2 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, 11:15 PM CDT (04:15 UTC)
Expired
May 27, 1997, 12:15 AM CDT
In force
60 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Lawrence County, AL

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 26, 11:17 PM CDTHail 3.5Mt Hope, AL
May 26, 11:23 PM CDTHail 0.75Moulton, 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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 26, 10:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 4.3 hours before the alert went out and 157 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 00:00Z on 1997-05-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2887 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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 00:00Z on 1997-05-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 83 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
2887 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-3 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1128 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
83 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
101 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.7
Supercell composite
5.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

749 
WUUS1 KHSV 270414 RRA
SVRHSV
ALC079-270515-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
1115 PM CDT MON MAY 26 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HUNTSVILLE HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1215 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN NORTH ALABAMA
 
   ...LAWRENCE COUNTY
 
AT 1115 PM...RADAR INDICATED THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER COLBERT AND
FRANKLIN COUNTIES WAS MOVING TOWARDS THE WESTERN SIDE OF LAWRENCE
COUNTY. IT CONTINUES TO MOVE TOWARDS THE SOUTHEAST AT NEAR 40 MPH.
 
LARGE HAIL HAS COVERED THE GROUND IN MANY PARTS OF CENTRAL COLBERT
AND PARTS OF NORTHERN FRANKLIN COUNTIES.  THERE HAVE BEEN SEVERAL
REPORTS OF FUNNEL CLOUDS BUT SO FAR NO CONFIRMED DAMAGES.
 
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
May 26, 9:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLauderdale62 min
May 26, 10:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXColbert42 min
May 26, 10:53 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXColbert, Franklin67 min
May 26, 11:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarion, Winston49 min
May 26, 11:39 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXWinston36 min
May 27, 12:04 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCullman61 min
May 27, 12:19 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXWinston36 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.