Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 482, NWS Birmingham, AL

October 24, 1997Dallas County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Oct 24, 1997, 7:17 AM CDT for Dallas County, Alabama. It was in force for 33 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 24, 1997, 7:17 AM CDT (12:17 UTC)
Expired
Oct 24, 1997, 7:50 AM CDT
In force
33 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Dallas County, AL

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 99 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 12:21 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, 0.3 hours before the alert went out and 100 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 1997-10-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 1997-10-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 755 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
558 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
61 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
755 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
938 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KBHM 241219 RRA
SVRBHM
ALC047-241250-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
717 AM CDT FRI OCT 24 1997


THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM AL HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 750 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN CENTRAL ALABAMA

   ...EASTERN DALLAS COUNTY...

AT 717 AM CDT... WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
APPROACHING THE CITY OF SELMA.  THIS STORM WAS MOVING EAST AT 30 TO 40
MPH.


<<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.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 24, 7:31 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXAutauga, Lowndes49 min
Oct 24, 8:04 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXElmore46 min
Oct 24, 11:42 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXBarbour33 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.