Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 372, NWS Birmingham, AL

June 16, 1997Cullman County, Walker County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 16, 1997, 4:42 PM CDT for Cullman County, Walker County, Alabama. It was in force for 48 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 16, 1997, 4:42 PM CDT (21:42 UTC)
Expired
Jun 16, 1997, 5:30 PM CDT
In force
48 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

Counties Cullman County, AL, Walker County, AL

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 93 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:45 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 16, 1:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 9.7 hours before the alert went out and 92 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 1997-06-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 108 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 1997-06-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 136 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
108 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-54 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
897 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
136 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
212 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBHM 162142 RRA
SVRBHM
ALC043-127-162230-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
442 PM CDT MON JUN 16 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM AL HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 530 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...

IN NORTHERN ALABAMA

   ...CULLMAN COUNTY

IN CENTRAL ALABAMA

   ...EASTERN WALKER COUNTY
 
AT 440 PM CDT...WEATHER RADAR AND STORM SPOTTER REPORTS A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM PRODUCING DAMAGING WINDS 8 MILES NORTHWEST OF SIPSEY
MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH.

SOME LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM ARE...
SIPSEY                      AROUND 443 PM CDT
WILBURN                     AROUND 448 PM CDT
EMPIRE                      AROUND 450 PM CDT
BREMEN                      AROUND 454 PM CDT
GARDEN CITY                 AROUND 517 PM CDT
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE... SEEK REFUGE FROM THE STORM IN A
STRONG BUILDING. BOATERS ON AREA LAKES SHOULD TAKE SHELTER.
DAMAGING WIND... LARGE HAIL... VERY HEAVY RAIN... AND DANGEROUS
LIGHTNING ARE ALL LIKELY. DO NOT SEEK SHELTER UNDER TREES OR OTHER
ISOLATED TALL OBJECTS. THESE ATTRACT LIGHTNING. DO NOT DRIVE INTO
AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 16, 1:08 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXColbert67 min
Jun 16, 1:13 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXLawrence62 min
Jun 16, 1:50 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXLimestone55 min
Jun 16, 2:02 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXFranklin58 min
Jun 16, 2:20 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXColbert, Lawrence55 min
Jun 16, 3:03 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXMorgan57 min
Jun 16, 3:08 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarion62 min
Jun 16, 3:13 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXMadison62 min
Jun 16, 3:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFranklin56 min
Jun 16, 3:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLawrence, Limestone63 min
Jun 16, 3:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarshall69 min
Jun 16, 4:01 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXMorgan59 min
Jun 16, 4:05 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXMarshall55 min
Jun 16, 4:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCleburne65 min
Jun 16, 4:53 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXTalladega47 min
Jun 16, 4:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBlount, Jefferson64 min
Jun 16, 5:10 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXJefferson50 min
Jun 16, 5:16 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXClay49 min
Jun 16, 5:41 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSt. Clair, Shelby64 min
Jun 16, 6:02 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXClay33 min
Jun 16, 6:09 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTalladega51 min
Jun 16, 6:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPickens64 min
Jun 16, 6:16 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXTallapoosa49 min
Jun 16, 6:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXClay49 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.