Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 460, NWS Birmingham, AL

August 14, 1997Elmore County, Montgomery County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 14, 1997, 5:02 PM CDT for Elmore County, Montgomery 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
Aug 14, 1997, 5:02 PM CDT (22:02 UTC)
Expired
Aug 14, 1997, 5:50 PM CDT
In force
48 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

Counties Elmore County, AL, Montgomery County, AL

The radar

The Maxwell AFB radar (KMXX), 39 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:03 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, 10.0 hours before the alert went out and 103 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 1997-08-14Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1730 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 1997-08-14The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -35 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
1730 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-17 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
605 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
4 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-35 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-45 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 142202 RRA
SVRBHM
ALC051-101-142250-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
502 PM CDT THU AUG 14 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM AL HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 550 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...

IN CENTRAL ALABAMA

   ...SOUTHERN ELMORE COUNTY
   ...NORTHERN MONTGOMERY COUNTY
 
AT 500 PM CDT...WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 4 MILES
NORTHWEST OF MONTGOMERY MOVING EAST AT 15 MPH.

SOME LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM ARE...
COOSADA                     AROUND 503 PM CDT
ELMORE                      AROUND 508 PM CDT
MONTGOMERY                  AROUND 512 PM CDT
MADISON PARK                AROUND 530 PM CDT
WETUMPKA                    AROUND 534 PM CDT
 
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
Aug 14, 3:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTalladega61 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.