Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 430, NWS Birmingham, AL

July 15, 1997Montgomery County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 15, 1997, 4:11 PM CDT for Montgomery County, Alabama. It was in force for 34 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, 4:11 PM CDT (21:11 UTC)
Expired
Jul 15, 1997, 4:45 PM CDT
In force
34 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Montgomery County, AL

The radar

The Maxwell AFB radar (KMXX), 53 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:06 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, 9.2 hours before the alert went out and 119 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 152111 RRA
SVRBHM
ALC101-152145-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM AL HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 445 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN CENTRAL ALABAMA

   ...MONTGOMERY COUNTY
 
AT 409 PM CDT...WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
PRODUCING DAMAGING WINDS OVER NORTHWEST MONTGOMERY COUNTY. THE STORM
WAS LOCATED JUST NORTHWEST OF THE MONTGOMERY METRO AREA AND WILL MOVE
SLOWLY EAST-SOUTH.
 
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.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 15, 2:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXShelby35 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.