Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 418, NWS Birmingham, AL

July 9, 1997Winston County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 9, 1997, 4:08 PM CDT for Winston County, Alabama. It was in force for 37 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 9, 1997, 4:08 PM CDT (21:08 UTC)
Expired
Jul 9, 1997, 4:45 PM CDT
In force
37 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Winston County, AL

The radar

The Columbus AFB radar (KGWX), 92 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:09 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 9.1 hours before the alert went out and 121 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 1997-07-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 276 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 1997-07-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 37 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
276 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-123 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
962 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
37 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
50 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBHM 092109 RRA
SVRBHM
ALC133-092145-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
408 PM CDT WED JUL 9 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  445 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTH ALABAMA
 
   ...WINSTON COUNTY
 
AT 405 PM...RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IN SOUTHERN WINSTON
COUNTY BETWEEN POPLAR SPRINGS AND ARLEY. THIS STORM WAS MOVING SOUTHEAST
AT 15 MPH.
 
 
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 8, 7:09 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXHale51 min
Jul 9, 2:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXWalker46 min
Jul 9, 3:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson, Tuscaloosa45 min
Jul 9, 4:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTuscaloosa44 min
Jul 9, 4:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXWalker58 min
Jul 9, 5:25 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBibb50 min
Jul 9, 5:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFayette44 min
Jul 9, 6:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLamar, Marion48 min
Jul 9, 6:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTuscaloosa47 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.