Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 407, NWS Birmingham, AL

July 5, 1997Tuscaloosa County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 5, 1997, 1:21 AM CDT for Tuscaloosa County, Alabama. It was in force for 54 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
Jul 5, 1997, 1:21 AM CDT (06:21 UTC)
Expired
Jul 5, 1997, 2:15 AM CDT
In force
54 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Tuscaloosa County, AL

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 71 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 06:25 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
Jul 5, 2:00 AM CDTThunderstorm WindTuscaloosa, ALA couple of trees were blown just north of the Tuscaloosa city limits.

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 00:00Z, 6.4 hours before the alert went out and 70 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 00:00Z on 1997-07-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3242 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 00:00Z on 1997-07-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 20 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
3242 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-18 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1232 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
20 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
11 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBHM 050622 RRA
SVRBHM
ALC125-050715-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
121 AM CDT SAT JUL 5 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  215 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA
 
   ...TUSCALOOSA COUNTY
 
AT 120 AM CDT WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM NEAR
REFORM AND GORDO MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH. THIS STORM HAS UPROOTED TREES IN
CARROLLTON AND KNOCKED OUT POWER IN PICKENSVILLE IN THE PAST HALF HOUR.
ALONG WITH DAMAGING WINDS...BRIEF HEAVY RAIN AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING
WILL OCCUR.
 
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 5, 12:43 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPickens47 min
Jul 5, 1:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBarbour31 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.