Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 462, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 18, 1997, 3:07 PM CDT for Elmore County, Montgomery County, Alabama. It was in force for 33 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
- Aug 18, 1997, 3:07 PM CDT (20:07 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 18, 1997, 3:40 PM CDT
- In force
- 33 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 20:06 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 18, 3:12 PM CDT | Hail 0.88 | Millbrook, AL | Dime to nickel size hail was reported 1 mile north of the Elmore/Montgomery county line. |
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, 8.1 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1126 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -57 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 903 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 11 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -1 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- -2 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KBHM 182008 RRA SVRBHM ALC051-101-182040- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 307 PM CDT MON AUG 18 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM AL HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 340 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... IN CENTRAL ALABAMA ...ELMORE COUNTY ...MONTGOMERY COUNTY AT 306 PM CDT...WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM ALONG THE ELMORE/MONTGOMERY COUNTY LINE JUST WEST OF WARE. THE STORM WAS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 20 MPH AND WILL AFFECT COMMUNITIES ALONG THE COUNTY LINE. 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.
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, Aug 18, 10:15 AM CDT, 4 hours 52 minutes before
ALZ001>050-GAZ089-090-102-120-190315- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR NORTH/CENTRAL AL AND WEST CENTRAL GA NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 1015 AM CDT MON AUG 18 1997 THE PRESENCE OF A WEAK FRONTAL SYSTEM ACROSS TENNESSEE COMBINED WITH A PERSISTENT MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIRMASS OVER THE STATE WILL GIVE WAY TO SLIGHTLY BETTER CHANCES FOR THUNDERSTORMS TODAY. ONCE AGAIN...THE HOT AFTERNOON TEMPERATURES COMBINED WITH HIGH HUMIDITY WILL PRODUCE HEAT INDEX VALUES BETWEEN 105 AND 110 THIS AFTERNOON. THE AREAS WITH THE GREATEST THREAT OF EXCESSIVE HEAT TODAY ARE CENTRAL AND SOUTH ALABAMA AS WELL AS WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA. ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL SHOULD NOT BE NECESSARY.
Special weather statement, Aug 18, 3:02 PM CDT, 5 minutes before
ALZ001>050-GAZ089-090-102-120-190805- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED FOR NORTH/CENTRAL AL AND WEST CENTRAL GA NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 302 PM CDT MON AUG 18 1997 THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS ACROSS MOST OF ALABAMA AND WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA. THE MOST NUMEROUS STORMS SHOULD CONTINUE OVER WEST CENTRAL AND CENTRAL ALABAMA THROUGH THE EARLY EVENING. THESE STORMS WILL BE SHORT IN DURATION...USUALLY 30 MINUTES BUT HAVE THE POTENTIAL...AS DO ALL SUMMERTIME STORMS...TO PRODUCE GUSTY WINDS OF 35 MPH...FREQUENT LIGHTNING...HAIL..AND HEAVY DOWNPOURS OF RAIN. ISOLATED STORMS MAY BECOME BRIEFLY SEVERE WITH THE GREATEST THREAT BEING WIND DAMAGE. GIVEN THE ISOLATED EXTENT OF THESE STORMS THE ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL REMAINS UNNECESSARY.
Special weather statement, Aug 18, 3:06 PM CDT, 1 minute before
ALZ001>050-GAZ089-090-102-120-190805- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED FOR NORTH/CENTRAL AL AND WEST CENTRAL GA NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 302 PM CDT MON AUG 18 1997 THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS ACROSS MOST OF ALABAMA AND WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA. THE MOST NUMEROUS STORMS SHOULD CONTINUE OVER WEST CENTRAL AND CENTRAL ALABAMA THROUGH THE EARLY EVENING. THESE STORMS WILL BE SHORT IN DURATION...USUALLY 30 MINUTES BUT HAVE THE POTENTIAL...AS DO ALL SUMMERTIME STORMS...TO PRODUCE GUSTY WINDS OF 35 MPH...FREQUENT LIGHTNING...HAIL..AND HEAVY DOWNPOURS OF RAIN. ISOLATED STORMS MAY BECOME BRIEFLY SEVERE WITH THE GREATEST THREAT BEING WIND DAMAGE. GIVEN THE ISOLATED EXTENT OF THESE STORMS THE ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL REMAINS UNNECESSARY.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 18, 11:39 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Cleburne | 61 min |
| Aug 18, 3:48 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Macon | 32 min |
| Aug 18, 4:37 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Montgomery | 48 min |
| Aug 18, 4:45 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lowndes | 45 min |
| Aug 18, 5:31 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Shelby | 49 min |
| Aug 18, 5:42 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Chilton | 48 min |
| Aug 18, 6:11 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Dallas | 34 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.