Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 394, NWS Birmingham, AL

June 21, 1997Chilton County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 21, 1997, 2:57 PM CDT for Chilton 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 21, 1997, 2:57 PM CDT (19:57 UTC)
Expired
Jun 21, 1997, 3:45 PM CDT
In force
48 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Chilton County, AL

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jun 21, 3:00 PM CDTHail 0.75Jemison, ALThree-quarter inch hail was reported in the northwest part of the county along CR 73.

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, 8.0 hours before the alert went out and 37 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 1997-06-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 399 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 1997-06-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 73 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
399 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-150 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
631 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
10 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
73 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-1 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.

828 
WUUS1 KBHM 211956 RRA
SVRBHM
ALC021-212045-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
257 PM CDT SAT JUN 21 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM AL HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 345 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN CENTRAL ALABAMA

   ...CHILTON COUNTY
 
AT 255 PM CDT...WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER
NORTHWEST CHILTON COUNTY...JUST WEST OF JEMISON.  THIS STORM WAS
MOVING SOUTH-SOUTHEASTWARD AT 15 TO 20 MPH...AND WILL LIKELY AFFECT
THE THORSBY...CLANTON AND MAPLESVILLE AREAS THROUGH 330 PM.

HIGH WINDS ARE LIKELY WITH THIS STORM...AS WELL AS VERY HEAVY RAINFALL.
 
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.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 20, 7:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXClay31 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.