Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 401, NWS Birmingham, AL

July 4, 1997Lauderdale County, Limestone County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 4, 1997, 3:47 PM CDT for Lauderdale County, Limestone County, Alabama. It was in force for 58 min. 3 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, 3:47 PM CDT (20:47 UTC)
Expired
Jul 4, 1997, 4:45 PM CDT
In force
58 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

Counties Lauderdale County, AL, Limestone County, AL

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jul 4, 4:05 PM CDTThunderstorm WindArdmore, AL
Jul 4, 4:10 PM CDTHail 0.75Florence, AL
Jul 4, 4:13 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 51Greenbrier, 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, 8.8 hours before the alert went out and 156 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.

000 
TTAA00 KHSV 042051
SVRHSV
ALC077-083-042145-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
347 PM CDT FRI JUL 4 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HUNTSVILLE HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  445 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONSS...

IN NORTH ALABAMA

   ...LAUDERDALE COUNTY...LIMESTONE COUNTY

AT 342 PM CDT  NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR IN HUNTSVILLE INDICATED
A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS STRETCHING NEAR CHOROKEE IN
NORTHWEST COLBERT COUNTY TO NEAR FLORENCE AND GREEN HILL AND
INTO THE NORTHWEST CORNER OF LIMESTONE COUNTY.

THE LINE WAS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 15 MILES AN HOUR.

IN THE PAST FEW MINUTES DIME SIZE HAIL AND 60 MPH WINDS WERE
REPORTED NEAR CHEROKEE IN COLBERT COUNTY.

THE WARNING FOR LAUDERDALE COUNTY HAS BEEN EXTENDED UNTIL
445 PM.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR COLBERT COUNTY REMAINS IN
EFFECT UNTIL 445 PM CDT FOR COLBERT COUNTY.

WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A
STRONG BUILDING.  DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS.  DON'T USE TELEPHONES
OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL THE STORM
HAS PASSED.  MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE INTO LOW WATER CROSSINGS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 4, 2:38 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLauderdale67 min
Jul 4, 3:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXColbert68 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.