Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 452, NWS Birmingham, AL

July 28, 1997Jefferson County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 28, 1997, 4:11 PM CDT for Jefferson County, Alabama. It was in force for 49 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
Jul 28, 1997, 4:11 PM CDT (21:11 UTC)
Expired
Jul 28, 1997, 5:00 PM CDT
In force
49 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Jefferson County, AL

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 44 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:02 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.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jul 28, 4:15 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 50Birmingham, ALTrees were reported down along 4th Avenue South in the Birmingham area.

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in.

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 9.2 hours before the alert went out and 43 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 1997-07-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1583 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 1997-07-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 54 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
1583 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-69 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
879 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
54 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
106 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
2.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBHM 282113 RRA
SVRBHM
ALC073-282215-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
411 PM CDT MON JUL 28 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  500 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN CENTRAL ALABAMA
 
   ...JEFFERSON COUNTY
 
AT 412 PM WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER BIRMINGHAM
MOVING SOUTH AT 15 MPH. HIGH AND DAMAGING WINDS ARE POSSIBLE ALONG WITH
VERY HEAVY RAIN.
 
WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A
STRONG BUILDING.  DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS.  DON'T USE TELEPHONES
OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTI,L THE STORM
HAS PASSED.  MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE INTO LOW WATER CROSSINGS.

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, 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, 4:15 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.