Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 404, NWS Birmingham, AL

July 4, 1997Franklin County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 4, 1997, 4:33 PM CDT for Franklin County, Alabama. It was in force for 57 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
Jul 4, 1997, 4:33 PM CDT (21:33 UTC)
Expired
Jul 4, 1997, 5:30 PM CDT
In force
57 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Franklin County, AL

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

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 9.6 hours before the alert went out and 171 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 1997-07-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3053 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 1997-07-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 38 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
3053 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-111 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
959 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
38 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
19 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KHSV 042133 RRA
SVRHSV
ALC059-071-042230-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
433 PM CDT FRI JUL 4 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HUNTSVILLE HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  530 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONSS...
 
IN NORTH ALABAMA
 
   ...FRANKLIN COUNTY...JACKSON COUNTY
 
AT 432 PM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR IN HUNTSVILLE INDICATED
POSSIBLE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN FRANKLIN COUNTY MOVING TOWARDS
RUSSELVILLE AND ALSO IN NORTHWEST JACKSON COUNTY.
 
THE STORMS WERE MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 15 MILES AN HOUR AND CONTINUE
TO HAVE A HISTORY OF DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL.
 
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
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
DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.

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, 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 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.