Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 467, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 18, 1997, 5:42 PM CDT for Chilton County, Alabama. It was in force for 48 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, 5:42 PM CDT (22:42 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 18, 1997, 6:30 PM CDT
- In force
- 48 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Chilton County, AL
The radar
The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 36 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:46 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, 5:45 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 50 | Jemison, AL | A portion of the roof of a house under construction was ripped off. Several large trees were knocked down. |
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, 10.7 hours before the alert went out and 37 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.
594 WUUS1 KBHM 182243 RRA SVRBHM ALC021-182330- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 542 PM CDT MON AUG 18 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM AL HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 630 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN CENTRAL ALABAMA ...CHILTON COUNTY AT 541 PM CDT...WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM PRODUCING DAMAGING WINDS MOVING ACROSS CHILTON COUNTY. THIS STORM WILL LIKELY PRODUCE DAMAGE ACROSS A LARGE PORTION OF CHILTON COUNTY AS IT MOVES TO THE SOUTHEAST AROUND 25 MPH. 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, 3:02 PM CDT, 2 hours 40 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, 2 hours 36 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.
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, 3:07 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Elmore, Montgomery | 33 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, 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.