Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 399, NWS Birmingham, AL

July 4, 1997Lauderdale County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 4, 1997, 2:38 PM CDT for Lauderdale County, Alabama. It was in force for 67 min. 2 reports 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
Jul 4, 1997, 2:38 PM CDT (19:38 UTC)
Expired
Jul 4, 1997, 3:45 PM CDT
In force
67 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Lauderdale County, AL

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jul 4, 3:32 PM CDTHail 0.75Killen, AL
Jul 4, 3:32 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 60Killen, AL

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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Jul 4, 2:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 12:00Z, 7.6 hours before the alert went out and 167 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 1997-07-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 38 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 1997-07-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -74 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
38 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-403 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
932 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
60 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-74 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
37 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

289 
WUUS1 KHSV 041936 RRA
SVRHSV
ALC077-042045-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
238 PM CDT FRI JUL 4 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HUNTSVILLE HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  345 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN NORTH ALABAMA
 
   ...LAUDERDALE COUNTY
 
AT 235 PM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR IN HUNTSVILLE AND
NASHVILLE INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM APPROACHING LAUDERDALE
COUNTY IN NORTHWEST ALABAMA.
 
THE THUNDERSTORM WAS IN A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS MOVING SOUTHEAST
TOWARDS THE COUNTY.
 
PERSONS AROUND AREA LAKES AND RIVERS IN LAUDERDALE COUNTY SHOULD
SEEK SHELTER IMMEDIATELY AS LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS ARE
LIKELY.
 
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER FROM THE WEATHER IN A
STRONG BUILDING.  DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN...
AND DEADLY LIGHTNING ARE ALL POSSIBLE IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.
STAY INSIDE AWAY FROM WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 4, 3:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXColbert68 min
Jul 4, 3:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLauderdale, Limestone58 min
Jul 4, 4:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMadison64 min
Jul 4, 4:25 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLawrence65 min
Jul 4, 4:33 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFranklin57 min
Jul 4, 4:33 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJackson57 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.