Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 472, NWS Birmingham, AL

August 28, 1997Clay County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 28, 1997, 3:55 PM CDT for Clay County, Alabama. It was in force for 35 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 28, 1997, 3:55 PM CDT (20:55 UTC)
Expired
Aug 28, 1997, 4:30 PM CDT
In force
35 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Clay County, AL

The radar

The Maxwell AFB radar (KMXX), 82 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:55 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, 8.9 hours before the alert went out and 86 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 1997-08-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1305 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 1997-08-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 46 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
1305 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-27 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
983 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
15 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
46 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
52 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 282057 RRA
SVRBHM
ALC027-282130-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
355 PM CDT THU AUG 28 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  430 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN EAST CENTRAL ALABAMA
 
   ...CLAY COUNTY
 
A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS INDICATED DOPPLER RADARS 5 MILES NORTHEAST OF
ASHLAND. THERE HAVE BEEN PUBLIC REPORTS OF HAIL LARGER THAN MARBLES.
THIS SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL MOVE SOUTHEAST AT 15 MPH...AND SHOULD MOVE
BETWEEN ASHLAND AND LINEVILLE BY 405 PM.
 
 
 
 
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER FROM THE WEATHER IN A
STRONG BdUILDING.  DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN...
AND DEADLY LIGHTNING ARE ALL POSSIBLE IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.
STAY INSIDE AWAY FROM WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.

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 28, 10:14 AM CDT, 5 hours 41 minutes before
ALZ001>050-GAZ089-090-102-120-290000-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
FOR NORTH/CENTRAL AL AND WEST CENTRAL GA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
1015 AM CDT THU AUG 28 1997

ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE AGAIN THIS AFTERNOON.
THOUGH NO SEVERE WEATHER IS ANTICIPATED ACROSS ALABAMA OR WEST CENTRAL
GEORGIA.

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, Aug 28, 10:15 AM CDT, 5 hours 40 minutes before
ALZ001>050-GAZ089-090-102-120-290000-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
FOR NORTH/CENTRAL AL AND WEST CENTRAL GA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
1015 AM CDT THU AUG 28 1997

ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE AGAIN THIS AFTERNOON.
THOUGH NO SEVERE WEATHER IS ANTICIPATED ACROSS ALABAMA OR WEST CENTRAL
GEORGIA.

ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL
SHOULD NOT BE NECESSARY.  FOR THE SOUTHERN ALABAMA HAZARDOUS
WEATHER OUTLOOK...SEE PRODUCT BHMSPSMOB.

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.