Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 447, NWS Birmingham, AL

July 28, 1997Madison County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 28, 1997, 2:53 PM CDT for Madison County, Alabama. It was in force for 52 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, 2:53 PM CDT (19:53 UTC)
Expired
Jul 28, 1997, 3:45 PM CDT
In force
52 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Madison County, AL

The nearest sounding before it

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 12:00Z, 7.9 hours before the alert went out and 152 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 1997-07-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3105 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 1997-07-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -13 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
3105 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-41 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1167 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
8 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-13 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
2 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
-0.1
Supercell composite
-0.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KHSV 281953 RRA
SVRHSV
ALC089-282045-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
253 PM CDT MON JUL 28 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HUNTSVILLE HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  345 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN NORTH ALABAMA
 
   ...MADISON COUNTY
 
AT 251 NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED POSSIBLE SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS FROM NEAR MERIDIANVILLE SOUTH THROUGH HUNTSVILLE
TO NEAR FARLEY. THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING SOUTHEAST AT AROUND
10 MILES AN HOUR.
 
 
WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A
STRONG BUILDING.  DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS.  DON'T USE TELEPHONESP
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 28, 9:47 AM CDT, 5 hours 6 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, 5 hours 5 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, 12:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCherokee48 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, 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.