Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 365, NWS Birmingham, AL

June 14, 1997Russell County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 14, 1997, 2:50 PM CDT for Russell County, Alabama. It was in force for 30 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jun 14, 1997, 2:50 PM CDT (19:50 UTC)
Expired
Jun 14, 1997, 3:20 PM CDT
In force
30 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Russell County, AL

The radar

The Maxwell AFB radar (KMXX), 63 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:54 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.

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Jun 14, 1:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 12:00Z, 7.8 hours before the alert went out and 136 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, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 12:00Z on 1997-06-14Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1780 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, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 12:00Z on 1997-06-14The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 133 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
1780 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-9 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
511 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
133 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
128 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
3.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBHM 141950 RRA
SVRBHM
ALC113-142020-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
250 PM CDT SAT JUN 14 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM AL HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 320 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN EAST CENTRAL ALABAMA

   ...RUSSELL COUNTY
 
AT 248 PM CDT...WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
PRODUCING DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL 6 MILES SOUTHWEST OF
CRAWFORD MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH.

SOME LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM ARE...
CRAWFORD                    AROUND 252 PM CDT
SEALE                       AROUND 301 PM CDT
FORT MITCHELL               AROUND 317 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.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jun 14, 1:09 PM CDT, 1 hour 41 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM
109 PM CDT SAT JUN 14 1997

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0105 PM    LAFAYETTE                 AL   1.75 INCH HAIL
06/14/97   CHAMBERS                       REPORTED BY EMA
Local storm report, Jun 14, 1:11 PM CDT, 1 hour 39 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM
109 PM CDT SAT JUN 14 1997

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0105 PM    LAFAYETTE                 AL   1.75 INCH HAIL
06/14/97   CHAMBERS                       REPORTED BY EMA

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 13, 9:04 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTalladega31 min
Jun 13, 9:35 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCalhoun30 min
Jun 13, 9:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCherokee33 min
Jun 13, 9:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCleburne36 min
Jun 13, 11:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXColbert, Franklin60 min
Jun 14, 12:03 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLauderdale57 min
Jun 14, 12:55 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFranklin, Lawrence65 min
Jun 14, 12:55 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMorgan65 min
Jun 14, 2:16 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFayette34 min
Jun 14, 4:25 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXFayette, Lamar, Walker2 hr
Jun 14, 1:04 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXChambers31 min
Jun 14, 3:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXRussell47 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.