Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 435, NWS Birmingham, AL

July 18, 1997Morgan County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 18, 1997, 4:02 PM CDT for Morgan County, Alabama. It was in force for 58 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 18, 1997, 4:02 PM CDT (21:02 UTC)
Expired
Jul 18, 1997, 5:00 PM CDT
In force
58 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Morgan County, AL

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 9.0 hours before the alert went out and 142 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 1997-07-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 838 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 1997-07-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -23 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
838 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-61 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
805 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
8 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-23 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-17 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.

970 
WUUS1 KHSV 182101 RRA
SVRHSV
ALC103-182200-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
402 PM CDT FRI JUL 18 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HUNTSVILLE HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  500 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN NORTH ALABAMA
 
   ...WESTERN MORGAN COUNTY
 
AT 400 PM CDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS LIKELY PRODUCING DAMAGING WINDS IN WESTERN MORGAN
COUNTY NEAR HARTSELLE AND DANVILLE.
 
THE STORMS WERE SHOWING LITTLE IF ANY MOVEMENT.
 
 
WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A
STRONG BUILDING.  DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS.  DONT USE TELEPHONES
OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL THE STORM
HAS PASSED.  MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE INTO LOW WATER CROSSINGS.

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 18, 12:03 PM CDT, 3 hours 59 minutes before
ALZ001>050-GAZ089-090-102-120-182300-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
FOR NORTH/CENTRAL AL AND WEST CENTRAL GA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
1203 PM CDT FRI JUL 18 1997

HURRICANE DANNY WILL BE THE MAIN WEATHER THREAT TO ALABAMA AND
WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA THROUGH THE WEEKEND.  AS FOR TODAY...THERE WILL BE
INCREASING CHANCES OF THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS CENTRAL ALABAMA AS FEEDER
BANDS ASSOCIATED WITH DANNY MOVE NORTHWARD.  A TORNADO WATCH IS IN
EFFECT FOR THE SOUTHERN ONE-THIRD OF ALABAMA AS HURRICANES CAN PRODUCE
ISOLATED TORNADOES IN THUNDERSTORMS WITHIN THE FEEDER BANDS.  THE MAIN
THREAT FROM DANNY WILL LIKELY BE FLOODING DUE TO ITS SLOW MOVEMENT.
THE OFFICIAL TRACK FROM THE HURRICANE CENTER MOVES DANNY ONSHORE
BETWEEN BILOXI MISSISSIPPI AND PENSACOLA FLORIDA LATE TONIGHT AND INTO
SOUTHWEST ALABAMA DURING THE DAY SATURDAY.

EMERGENCY MANAGERS WILL NEED TO CLOSELY MONITER THE TRACK OF DANNY AS
APPROACHES THE GULF COAST.
Special weather statement, Jul 18, 12:04 PM CDT, 3 hours 58 minutes before
ALZ001>050-GAZ089-090-102-120-182300-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
FOR NORTH/CENTRAL AL AND WEST CENTRAL GA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
1203 PM CDT FRI JUL 18 1997

HURRICANE DANNY WILL BE THE MAIN WEATHER THREAT TO ALABAMA AND
WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA THROUGH THE WEEKEND.  AS FOR TODAY...THERE WILL BE
INCREASING CHANCES OF THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS CENTRAL ALABAMA AS FEEDER
BANDS ASSOCIATED WITH DANNY MOVE NORTHWARD.  A TORNADO WATCH IS IN
EFFECT FOR THE SOUTHERN ONE-THIRD OF ALABAMA AS HURRICANES CAN PRODUCE
ISOLATED TORNADOES IN THUNDERSTORMS WITHIN THE FEEDER BANDS.  THE MAIN
THREAT FROM DANNY WILL LIKELY BE FLOODING DUE TO ITS SLOW MOVEMENT.
THE OFFICIAL TRACK FROM THE HURRICANE CENTER MOVES DANNY ONSHORE
BETWEEN BILOXI MISSISSIPPI AND PENSACOLA FLORIDA LATE TONIGHT AND INTO
SOUTHWEST ALABAMA DURING THE DAY SATURDAY.

EMERGENCY MANAGERS WILL NEED TO CLOSELY MONITER THE TRACK OF DANNY AS
APPROACHES THE GULF COAST.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 18, 4:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLawrence61 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.