Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 443, NWS Birmingham, AL

July 28, 1997Cherokee County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 28, 1997, 12:32 PM CDT for Cherokee County, Alabama. It was in force for 48 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 28, 1997, 12:32 PM CDT (17:32 UTC)
Expired
Jul 28, 1997, 1:20 PM CDT
In force
48 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Cherokee County, AL

The nearest sounding before it

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 12:00Z, 5.5 hours before the alert went out and 136 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, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 12:00Z on 1997-07-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 912 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, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 12:00Z on 1997-07-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 45 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
912 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-120 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1127 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
14 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
45 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
65 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 281733 RRA
SVRBHM
ALC019-281820-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
1232 PM CDT MON JUL 28 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM AL HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 120 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN NORTHERN ALABAMA

   ...CHEROKEE COUNTY
 
AT 1230 PM CDT...WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM NEAR
BLANCHE IN NORTHERN CHEROKEE COUNTY.  THE STORM WAS MOVING SOUTH AT 15
MPH.  THIS STORM IS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING
STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS.  THE STORM SHOULD AFFECT THE WEISS LAKE AREA BY
1245 PM.
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE... SEEK REFUGE FROM THE STORM IN A
STRONG BUILDING. BOATERS ON AREA LAKES SHOULD TAKE SHELTER.
DAMAGING WIND... LARGE HAIL... VERY HEAVY RAIN... AND DANGEROUS
LIGHTNING ARE ALL LIKELY. DO NOT SEEK SHELTER UNDER TREES OR OTHER
ISOLATED TALL OBJECTS. THESE ATTRACT LIGHTNING. DO NOT D.RIVE 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 28, 9:47 AM CDT, 2 hours 45 minutes before
ALZ001>050-GAZ089-090-102-120-290240-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
FOR NORTH/CENTRAL AL AND WEST CENTRAL GA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
947 AM CDT MON JUL 28 1997

A LARGE AREA OF HIGH PRESSURE WILL CONTINUE ACROSS MOST OF
NORTHERN ALABAMA TODAY.  HOWEVER...THERE WILL BE ENOUGH MOISTURE AND
INSTABILITY TO PROVIDE A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS
THE NORTHERN HALF OF ALABAMA AND WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA LATE THIS
AFTERNOON.  STRONG GUSTY WINDS ARE POSSIBLE WITH SOME OF THESE
THUNDERSTORMS...BUT NO ORGANIZED SEVERE WEATHER IS EXPECTED.

TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO REACH INTO THE MIDDLE TO UPPER 90S
ONCE AGAIN THIS AFTERNOON.  THE HOT AND HUMID CONDITIONS WILL
AGAIN PUSH HEAT INDEX VALUES INTO THE 105 TO 110 DEGREE RANGE.

ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL
SHOULD NOT BE NECESSARY.  FOR THE SOUTHERN ALABAMA HAZARDOUS
WEATHER OUTLOOK...SEE PRODUCT BHMSPSMOB.
Special weather statement, Jul 28, 9:48 AM CDT, 2 hours 44 minutes before
ALZ001>050-GAZ089-090-102-120-290240-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
FOR NORTH/CENTRAL AL AND WEST CENTRAL GA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
947 AM CDT MON JUL 28 1997

A LARGE AREA OF HIGH PRESSURE WILL CONTINUE ACROSS MOST OF
NORTHERN ALABAMA TODAY.  HOWEVER...THERE WILL BE ENOUGH MOISTURE AND
INSTABILITY TO PROVIDE A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS
THE NORTHERN HALF OF ALABAMA AND WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA LATE THIS
AFTERNOON.  STRONG GUSTY WINDS ARE POSSIBLE WITH SOME OF THESE
THUNDERSTORMS...BUT NO ORGANIZED SEVERE WEATHER IS EXPECTED.

TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO REACH INTO THE MIDDLE TO UPPER 90S
ONCE AGAIN THIS AFTERNOON.  THE HOT AND HUMID CONDITIONS WILL
AGAIN PUSH HEAT INDEX VALUES INTO THE 105 TO 110 DEGREE RANGE.

ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL
SHOULD NOT BE NECESSARY.  FOR THE SOUTHERN ALABAMA HAZARDOUS
WEATHER OUTLOOK...SEE PRODUCT BHMSPSMOB.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 27, 9:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXRussell59 min
Jul 27, 9:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBarbour47 min
Jul 28, 12:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarengo31 min
Jul 28, 1:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJackson40 min
Jul 28, 2:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXDeKalb, Jackson65 min
Jul 28, 2:33 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCalhoun57 min
Jul 28, 2:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMadison52 min
Jul 28, 3:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMorgan57 min
Jul 28, 3:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarshall65 min
Jul 28, 3:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXRandolph51 min
Jul 28, 3:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBlount, Cullman47 min
Jul 28, 4:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson49 min
Jul 28, 4:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXShelby60 min
Jul 28, 4:41 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTallapoosa64 min
Jul 28, 4:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBibb, Chilton40 min
Jul 28, 5:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCoosa54 min
Jul 28, 5:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBibb, Chilton47 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.