Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 378, NWS Birmingham, AL

June 16, 1997Lowndes County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 16, 1997, 7:02 PM CDT for Lowndes County, Alabama. It was in force for 48 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
Jun 16, 1997, 7:02 PM CDT (00:02 UTC)
Expired
Jun 16, 1997, 7:50 PM CDT
In force
48 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Lowndes County, AL

The radar

The Maxwell AFB radar (KMXX), 91 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:04 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.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jun 16, 7:35 PM CDTHail 0.75Ft Deposit, ALThree-quarter inch hail was reported near Fort Deposit.

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 nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 0.0 hours before the alert went out and 115 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 1997-06-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2362 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 1997-06-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 30 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
2362 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-6 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1052 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
30 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
41 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBHM 170002 RRA
SVRBHM
ALC085-170050-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM AL HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 750 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN CENTRAL ALABAMA

   ...LOWNDES COUNTY
 
AT 659 PM CDT...WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 8 MILES
WEST OF CALHOUN MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

SOME LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM ARE...
HAYNEVILLE                  AROUND 713 PM CDT
LETOHATCHEE                 AROUND 719 PM CDT

LARGE HAIL WAS INDICATED WITH THIS STORM.
 
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 COVER
S 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

Special weather statement, Jun 16, 5:40 PM CDT, 1 hour 22 minutes before
ALZ011-014-162330-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
540 PM CDT MON JUN 16 1997

THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES HAVE BEEN REMOVED FROM SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH
NUMBER 450:  MARION AND WINSTON.
Special weather statement, Jun 16, 5:41 PM CDT, 1 hour 21 minutes before
ALZ011-014-162330-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
540 PM CDT MON JUN 16 1997

THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES HAVE BEEN REMOVED FROM SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH
NUMBER 450:  MARION, AND WINSTON.
Special weather statement, Jun 16, 6:20 PM CDT, 42 minutes before
ALZ015>017-170000-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
620 PM CDT MON JUN 16 1997

THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES HAVE BEEN REMOVED FROM SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH
NUMMER 450: WALKER...CULLMAN AND BLOUNT.
Special weather statement, Jun 16, 6:21 PM CDT, 41 minutes before
ALZ015>017-170000-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
620 PM CDT MON JUN 16 1997

THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES HAVE BEEN REMOVED FROM SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH
NUMMER 450: WALKER.&..CULLMAN AND BLOUNT.
Special weather statement, Jun 16, 6:35 PM CDT, 27 minutes before
ALZ024-170030-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
635 PM CDT MON JUN 16 1997

THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES HAVE BEEN REMOVED FROM SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH
NUMMER 450: JEFFERSON.
Special weather statement, Jun 16, 6:36 PM CDT, 26 minutes before
ALZ024-170030-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
635 PM CDT MON JUN 16 1997

THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES HAVE BEEN REMOVED FROM SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH
NUMMER 450: JEFFERSON.x

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 16, 7:23 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXTallapoosa32 min
Jun 16, 7:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLowndes, Montgomery50 min
Jun 16, 7:57 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXTallapoosa48 min
Jun 16, 8:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLee46 min
Jun 16, 8:22 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXElmore33 min
Jun 16, 8:25 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXChambers35 min
Jun 17, 5:24 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXColbert, Lauderdale66 min
Jun 17, 5:24 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFranklin66 min
Jun 17, 12:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson46 min
Jun 17, 12:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLee, Russell31 min
Jun 17, 1:09 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXChambers51 min
Jun 17, 1:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSt. Clair49 min
Jun 17, 1:28 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXSt. Clair32 min
Jun 17, 1:33 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTalladega47 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.