Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 429, NWS Birmingham, AL

July 15, 1997Shelby County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 15, 1997, 2:30 PM CDT for Shelby County, Alabama. It was in force for 35 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 15, 1997, 2:30 PM CDT (19:30 UTC)
Expired
Jul 15, 1997, 3:05 PM CDT
In force
35 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Shelby County, AL

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 7.5 hours before the alert went out and 14 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 1997-07-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1631 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 1997-07-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -19 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
1631 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-43 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
904 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
7 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-19 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-31 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBHM 151930 RRA
SVRBHM
ALC117-152005-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
230 PM CDT TUE JUL 15 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM AL HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 305 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN CENTRAL ALABAMA

   ...NORTHERN SHELBY COUNTY
 
AT 229 PM CDT...WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM NEAR THE
CITY OF VINCENT MOVING EAST AT 10 TO 15 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. HEA<VY 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 15, 9:26 AM CDT, 5 hours 4 minutes before
ALZ001>050-GAZ089-090-102-120-151625-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
FOR NORTH/CENTRAL AL AND WEST CENTRAL GA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
926 AM CDT TUE JUL 15 1997

A WEAK SURFACE FRONT ACROSS EXTREME NORTH ALABAMA WILL PROVIDE
A FOCUS FOR SCATTERED AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS
NORTH ALABAMA.  ACROSS CENTRAL ALABAMA AND WEST-CENTRAL
GEORGIA...THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY SHOULD BE LESS NUMEROUS.  NO SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED BUT SOME OF THE STORMS COULD PRODUCE
LOCALLY STRONG WINDS.

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE LIKELY TODAY.  FOR THE SOUTHERN ALABAMA
THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK...SEE PRODUCT BHMSPSMOB.
Special weather statement, Jul 15, 9:27 AM CDT, 5 hours 3 minutes before
ALZ001>050-GAZ089-090-102-120-151625-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
FOR NORTH/CENTRAL AL AND WEST CENTRAL GA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
926 AM CDT TUE JUL 15 1997

A WEAK SURFACE FRONT ACROSS EXTREME NORTH ALABAMA WILL PROVIDE
A FOCUS FOR SCATTERED AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS
NORTH ALABAMA.  ACROSS CENTRAL ALABAMA AND WEST-CENTRAL
GEORGIA...THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY SHOULD BE LESS NUMEROUS.  NO SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTEDX BUT SOME OF THE STORMS COULD PRODUCE
LOCALLY STRONG WINDS.

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE LIKELY TODAY.  FOR THE SOUTHERN ALABAMA
THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK...SEE PRODUCT BHMSPSMOB.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 15, 4:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMontgomery34 min
Jul 15, 5:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLee32 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.