Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 425, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 9, 1997, 7:30 PM CDT for Pickens County, Alabama. It was in force for 50 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 9, 1997, 7:30 PM CDT (00:30 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 9, 1997, 8:20 PM CDT
- In force
- 50 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Pickens County, AL
The radar
The Columbus AFB radar (KGWX), 72 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:33 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 9, 8:05 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 50 | Pickensville, AL | Trees and power lines were reported down 1 mile from the Mississippi state line on CR26. |
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, 0.5 hours before the alert went out and 122 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 2542 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -17 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 763 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 23 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 37 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 116 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.5
- Supercell composite
- 3.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KBHM 100031 RRA SVRBHM ALC107-100120- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 730 PM CDT WED JUL 9 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM AL HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 820 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA ...PICKENS COUNTY AT 729 PM CDT...WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM NEAR REFORM. THE STORM WAS MOVING SOUTH AT 20 MPH...AND WILL AFFECT THE REFORM...CARROLLTON AND GORDO AREAS THROUGH 800 PM. 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 35 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 34 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.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 9, 7:44 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Tuscaloosa | 46 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.