Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 381, NWS Birmingham, AL

June 16, 1997Elmore County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 16, 1997, 8:22 PM CDT for Elmore County, Alabama. It was in force for 33 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, 8:22 PM CDT (01:22 UTC)
Expired
Jun 16, 1997, 8:55 PM CDT
In force
33 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Elmore County, AL

The radar

The Maxwell AFB radar (KMXX), 34 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:27 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 nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 1.4 hours before the alert went out and 88 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.

580 
WUUS1 KBHM 170122 RRA
SVRBHM
ALC051-170155-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM AL HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 855 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN CENTRAL ALABAMA

   ...EASTERN ELMORE COUNTY
 
AT 821 PM CDT RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IN THE EXTREME
EASTERN PORTION OF ELMORE COUNTY NEAR TALLASSEE.  THIS STORM WAS
MOVING EAST AROUND 15 MPH...AND WILL CONTINUE TO AFFECT THE EASTERN
PORTION OF ELMORE COUNTY THROUGH 850.
 
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

Special weather statement, Jun 16, 6:20 PM CDT, 2 hours 2 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, 2 hours 1 minute 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, 1 hour 47 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, 1 hour 46 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
Special weather statement, Jun 16, 8:01 PM CDT, 21 minutes before
ALZ022-023-025-026-170200-

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

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 450 HAS NOW EXPIRED FOR ALL REMAINING
COUNTIES ACROSS CENTRAL ALABAMA.
Special weather statement, Jun 16, 8:03 PM CDT, 19 minutes before
ALZ022-023-025-026-170200-

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

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 450 HAS NOW EXPIRED FOR ALL REMAINING
COUNTIES ACRROSS CENTRAL ALABAMA.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 16, 7:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLowndes48 min
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, 8:25 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.