Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 481, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Oct 21, 1997, 4:33 PM CDT for Hale County, Tuscaloosa County, Alabama. It was in force for 47 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
- Oct 21, 1997, 4:33 PM CDT (21:33 UTC)
- Expired
- Oct 21, 1997, 5:20 PM CDT
- In force
- 47 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Hale County, AL, Tuscaloosa County, AL
The radar
The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 77 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:36 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 21, 5:00 PM CDT | Hail 0.75 | Fosters, AL | Three-quarter inch hail was reported in Fosters, in the southwest part of the county. |
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, 9.6 hours before the alert went out and 76 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 212134 SVRBHM ALC065-125-212220- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 433 PM CDT TUE OCT 21 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM AL HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 520 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... IN WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA ...NORTHERN HALE COUNTY... ...EXTREME SOUTHERN TUSCALOOSA COUNTY... AT 431 PM CDT... WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 3 MILES WEST OF RALPH MOVING EAST AT 15 MPH. SOME LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM ARE... FOSTERS ...AROUND 441 PM CDT... AKRON ...AROUND 448 PM CDT... WEDGEWORTH ...AROUND 450 PM CDT... MOUNDVILLE ...AROUND 500 PM CDT... <<CALL TO ACTION>> SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH... DESTRUCTIVE HAIL... DEADLY LIGHTNING... AND VERY HEAVY RAIN. FOR YOUR PROTEJCTION 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.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 21, 4:02 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Greene, Pickens | 63 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.