Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 5, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jan 4, 1997, 11:16 PM CST for Morgan County, Alabama. It was in force for 59 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
- Jan 4, 1997, 11:16 PM CST (05:16 UTC)
- Expired
- Jan 5, 1997, 12:15 AM CST
- In force
- 59 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Morgan County, AL
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 4, 11:30 PM CST | Thunderstorm Wind 50 | Decatur, AL |
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 watch it was issued in
The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 4, 8:15 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
| Jan 4, 11:15 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 5 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 5.3 hours before the alert went out and 142 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
- 826 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -7 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 864 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 41 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 174 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 265 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.7
- Supercell composite
- 3.6
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KHSV 050516 RRA SVRHSV ALC103-050615- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL 1116 PM CST SAT JAN 4 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HUNTSVILLE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1215 AM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... IN NORTH ALABAMA ...MORGAN COUNTY AT 1115 PM CST WEATHER SERVICE RADAR IN HUNTSVILLE INIDATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER NORTHWEST MORGAN FROM DECATUR SOUTHWARD TO NEAR DANVILLE. MOVEMENT WAS EAST AT 35 TO 40 MILES AN HOUR. WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING. DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS. DON'T USE TELEPHONES OR ELECTRICAL ZAPPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED. MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE INTO LOW WATER CROSSINGS.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 4, 9:47 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Colbert | 58 min |
| Jan 4, 9:57 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lauderdale | 48 min |
| Jan 4, 10:14 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Franklin | 61 min |
| Jan 4, 11:09 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Limestone | 66 min |
| Jan 4, 11:22 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Madison | 68 min |
| Jan 4, 11:26 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Madison | 64 min |
| Jan 5, 12:07 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Jackson | 68 min |
| Jan 5, 12:34 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Marshall | 56 min |
| Jan 5, 12:44 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | DeKalb | 61 min |
| Jan 5, 12:59 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Hale, Tuscaloosa | 46 min |
| Jan 5, 1:05 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Bibb, Jefferson, Shelby | 40 min |
| Jan 5, 1:08 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Marshall | 2 hr |
| Jan 5, 1:13 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Etowah, St. Clair | 47 min |
| Jan 5, 1:29 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Cherokee | 46 min |
| Jan 5, 1:37 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Perry | 53 min |
| Jan 5, 1:43 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Bibb, Shelby | 47 min |
| Jan 5, 1:53 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Talladega | 52 min |
| Jan 5, 3:00 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Clay, Randolph | 45 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.