Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 385, NWS Birmingham, AL

June 17, 1997Jefferson County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 17, 1997, 12:29 PM CDT for Jefferson County, Alabama. It was in force for 46 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 17, 1997, 12:29 PM CDT (17:29 UTC)
Expired
Jun 17, 1997, 1:15 PM CDT
In force
46 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Jefferson County, AL

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 44 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:31 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 17, 12:34 PM CDTHail 0.75Warrior, ALThree-quarter inch hail was reported near the New Bethel community, in the northern part of the county.

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 12:00Z, 5.5 hours before the alert went out and 43 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 1997-06-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2751 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 1997-06-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 120 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
2751 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-4 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
508 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
120 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
115 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.3
Supercell composite
5.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

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, 8:22 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, 12:54 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.