Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 488, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Oct 25, 1997, 11:45 AM CDT for Lawrence County, Alabama. It was in force for 60 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 25, 1997, 11:45 AM CDT (16:45 UTC)
- Expired
- Oct 25, 1997, 12:45 PM CDT
- In force
- 60 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Lawrence County, AL
The watch it was issued in
The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 25, 8:30 AM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 7 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 4.8 hours before the alert went out and 157 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
- 1546 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -6 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 507 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 45 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 119 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 191 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.9
- Supercell composite
- 4.8
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
960 WUUS1 KHSV 251646 RRA SVRHSV ALC079-251745- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL 1145 AM CDT SAT OCT 25 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HUNTSVILLE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1245 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... IN NORTH ALABAMA ...LAWRENCE COUNTY AT 1142 AM CDT WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IN EASTERN FRANKLIN COUNTY AND A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IN NORTHWESTERN WINSTON COUNTY. THESE STORMS WILL LIKELY MOVE INTO SOUTHWESTERN AND WESTERN LAWRENCE COUNTY BY 1150 AM. THESE STORMS ARE MOVING EAST-NORTHEAST AT 30 TO 35 MILES PER HOUR. A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THE WARNED AREA. REMEMBER SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING. REMAIN CALM BUT BE ALERT TO RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS.
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
Local storm report, Oct 25, 11:05 AM CDT, 40 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM
1105 AM CDT SAT OCT 25 1997
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
1103 AM HAMILTON AL WIND DAMAGE
10/25/97 MARION TREE DOWN ON A HOUSE.
OTHER TREES AND POWERLINES
DOWN.Local storm report, Oct 25, 11:07 AM CDT, 38 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM
1105 AM CDT SAT OCT 25 1997
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
1103 AM HAMILTON AL WIND DAMAGE
10/25/97 MARION TREE DOWN ON A HOUSE.
OTHER TREES AND POWERLINES
DOWN.Local storm report, Oct 25, 11:08 AM CDT, 37 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM
1108 AM CDT SAT OCT 25 1997
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
1107 AM HAMILTON AL .75 INCH HAIL
10/25/97 MARION DIME SIZE HAIL REPORTED IN
HAMILTON 2 MILES EAST OF
HWY. 78 & 43.Local storm report, Oct 25, 11:11 AM CDT, 34 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM
1108 AM CDT SAT OCT 25 1997
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
1107 AM HAMILTON AL .75 INCH HAIL
10/25/97 MARION DIME SIZE HAIL REPORTED IN
HAMILTON 2 MILES EAST OF
HWY. 78 & 43.The office that day
Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 25, 8:08 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | DeKalb | 52 min |
| Oct 25, 10:18 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Franklin | 42 min |
| Oct 25, 10:18 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Marion | 47 min |
| Oct 25, 10:59 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Franklin | 61 min |
| Oct 25, 11:00 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Marion | 45 min |
| Oct 25, 11:10 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Winston | 45 min |
| Oct 25, 11:48 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Winston | 47 min |
| Oct 25, 12:20 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Cullman | 65 min |
| Oct 25, 12:22 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Lawrence, Limestone, Morgan | 68 min |
| Oct 25, 1:04 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Blount | 51 min |
| Oct 25, 1:08 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Madison, Marshall | 67 min |
| Oct 25, 1:22 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Montgomery | 48 min |
| Oct 25, 1:27 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Pike | 48 min |
| Oct 25, 2:13 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Bullock, Macon | 52 min |
| Oct 25, 2:27 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Pike | 48 min |
| Oct 25, 2:34 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Russell | 46 min |
| Oct 25, 2:37 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Randolph | 48 min |
| Oct 25, 2:45 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Barbour | 50 min |
| Oct 25, 4:36 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Franklin | 69 min |
| Oct 25, 5:45 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Colbert, Franklin, Lawrence | 60 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.