Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 480, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Oct 21, 1997, 4:02 PM CDT for Greene County, Pickens County, Alabama. It was in force for 63 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
- Oct 21, 1997, 4:02 PM CDT (21:02 UTC)
- Expired
- Oct 21, 1997, 5:05 PM CDT
- In force
- 63 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Greene County, AL, Pickens County, AL
The radar
The Columbus AFB radar (KGWX), 97 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:01 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, 9.0 hours before the alert went out and 116 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
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1364 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 43 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 56 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 86 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 212103 RRA SVRBHM ALC063-107-212205- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 402 PM CDT TUE OCT 21 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM AL HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 505 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... IN WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA ...NORTHERN GREENE COUNTY... ...SOUTHEASTERN PICKENS COUNTY... AT 359 PM CDT... WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 3 MILES SOUTHWEST OF BENEVOLA MOVING EAST AT 15 MPH. SOME LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM ARE... CLINTON AROUND 410 PM CDT... MANTUA AROUND 411 PM CDT... UNION AROUND 419 PM CDT... <<CALL TO ACTION>> IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE... SEEK REFUGE FROM THE STORM IN A STRONG BUILDING. BOATERS ON AREA LAKES SHOULD TAKE SHELTER. DAMAGING WIND... LARGE HAIL... VERY HEAVY RAIN... AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE ALL LIKELY. DO NOT SEEK SHELTER UNDER TREES OR OTHER ISOLATED TALL OBJECTS. THESE ATTRACT LIGHTNING. DO NOT 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, Oct 21, 10:10 AM CDT, 5 hours 52 minutes before
ALZ001>050-GAZ089-090-102-120-150220- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR NORTH/CENTRAL AL AND WEST CENTRAL GA NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 1010 AM CDT TUE OCT 21 1997 AN AREA OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL PASS OVER NORTHERN ALABAMA THIS MORNING AND A COLD FRONT OVER AR SHOULD ENTER THE STATE THIS EVENING. THERE WILL BE SOME INCREASE IN MOISTURE AND MORE UNSTABLE WITH LI OF 0 TO -3. EXPECT THUNDERSTORMS ALONG THE FRONT AS IT MOVES THROUGH BUT SHOULD NOT REACH SEVERE LIMITS. ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL SHOULD NOT BE NECESSARY. FOR THE SOUTHERN ALABAMA HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK..SEE PRODUCT BHMSPSMOB. FOR MORE WEATHER INFORMATION VISIT OUR INTERNET SITE AT HTTP://WWW.ACESAG.AUBURN.EDU/DEPARTMENT/NWS/INDEX.HTML ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB.
Special weather statement, Oct 21, 10:15 AM CDT, 5 hours 47 minutes before
ALZ001>050-GAZ089-090-102-120-150220- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR NORTH/CENTRAL AL AND WEST CENTRAL GA NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 1010 AM CDT TUE OCT 21 1997 AN AREA OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL PASS OVER NORTHERN ALABAMA THIS MORNING AND A COLD FRONT OVER AR SHOULD ENTER THE STATE THIS EVENING. THERE WILL BE SOME INCREASE IN MOISTURE AND MORE UNSTABLE WITH LI OF 0 TO -3. EXPECT THUNDERSTORMS ALONG THE FRONT AS IT MOVES THROUGH BUT SHOULD NOT REACH SEVERE LIMITS. ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL SHOULD NOT BE NECESSARY. FOR THE SOUTHERN ALABAMA HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK..SEE PRODUCT BHMSPSMOB. FOR MORE WEATHER INFORMATION VISIT OUR INhTERNET SITE AT HTTP://WWW.ACESAG.AUBURN.EDU/DEPARTMENT/NWS/INDEX.HTML ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 21, 4:33 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Hale, Tuscaloosa | 47 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.