Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 424, NWS Birmingham, AL

July 9, 1997Tuscaloosa County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 9, 1997, 6:58 PM CDT for Tuscaloosa County, Alabama. It was in force for 47 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, 6:58 PM CDT (23:58 UTC)
Expired
Jul 9, 1997, 7:45 PM CDT
In force
47 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Tuscaloosa County, AL

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 12.0 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 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 092359 RRA
SVRBHM
ALC125-100045-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
658 PM CDT WED JUL 9 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM AL HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 745 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA

   ...TUSCALOOSA COUNTY
 
AT 656 PM CDT...WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER
NORTHERN TUSCALOOSA COUNTY BETWEEN MOORES BRIDGE AND SAMANTHA.
THIS STORM WAS MOVING SOUTH AT 10 TO 20 MPH.
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 60 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 DONT
DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 9, 5:55 PM CDT, 1 hour 3 minutes before
ALZ034-100000-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
555 PM CDT WED JUL 9 1997

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR BIBB COUNTY CANCELLED...

AT 555 PM CDT...RADAR INDICATED THAT THE THUNDERSTORM OVER BIBB COUNTY
HAD WEAKENED...AND WAS NO LONGER SEVERE.  AS A RESULT...THE SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR BIBB COUNTY HAS BEEN CANCELLED.
Special weather statement, Jul 9, 5:56 PM CDT, 1 hour 2 minutes before
ALZ034-100000-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
555 PM CDT WED JUL 9 1997

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR BIBB COUNTY CANCELLED...

AT 555 PM CDT...RADAR INDICATED TbHAT THE THUNDERSTORM OVER BIBB COUNTY
HAD WEAKENED...AND WAS NO LONGER SEVERE.  AS A RESULT...THE SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR BIBB COUNTY HAS BEEN CANCELLED.

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, 4:08 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXWinston37 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

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.