Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 509, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Nov 1, 1997, 2:30 PM CST for Pike County, Alabama. It was in force for 50 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
- Nov 1, 1997, 2:30 PM CST (20:30 UTC)
- Expired
- Nov 1, 1997, 3:20 PM CST
- In force
- 50 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Pike County, AL
The radar
The Ft Rucker radar (KEOX), 59 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:32 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 1, 2:45 PM CST | Hail 1.25 | Orion, AL | Quarter to half dollar size hail was reported near Orion, in the northern 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 watch it was issued in
The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 1, 1:15 PM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Eglin AFB/Valpar, FL (KVPS), launched 12:00Z, 8.5 hours before the alert went out and 156 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
- 1154 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -7 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 625 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 56 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 169 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 164 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 3.8
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KBHM 012030 RRA SVRBHM ALC109-012120- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 230 PM CST SAT NOV 1 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM AL HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 320 PM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN SOUTHEASTERN ALABAMA ...PIKE COUNTY... AT 228 PM CST... WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM PRODUCING LARGE HAIL NEAR BRUNDIDGE. THIS STORM WAS MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH. OTHER SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS...CAPABLE OF PRODUCING LARGE HAIL...ARE EXPECTED MOVE INTO THE WESTERN PART OF PIKE COUNTY BY 245 PM. <<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, Nov 1, 9:37 AM CST, 4 hours 53 minutes before
ALZ001>050-GAZ089-090-102-120-020100- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR NORTH/CENTRAL AL AND WEST CENTRAL GA NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 940 AM CST SAT NOV 1 1997 A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE INTO WEST ALABAMA EARLY THIS AFTERNOON AND WILL BE LOCATED NEAR THE ALABAMA/GEORGIA STATE LINE BY SUNSET. THE AIRMASS ACROSS THE REGION WILL BECOME MORE UNSTABLE AS SOUTH WINDS INCREASE DURING THE DAY. THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS OUTLOOKED THE AREA FOR A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. ANY THUNDERSTORMS THAT DEVELOP TODAY WILL HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO BECOME SEVERE...WITH LARGE HAIL BEING THE PRIMARY THREAT. STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL SHOULD BE ON STANDBY AND BE READY FOR SEVERE WEATHER ACTIVATION IF A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OR TORNADO WATCH IS ISSUED. 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, Nov 1, 9:40 AM CST, 4 hours 50 minutes before
ALZ001>050-GAZ089-090-102-120-020100- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR NORTH/CENTRAL AL AND WEST CENTRAL GA NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 940 AM CST SAT NOV 1 1997 A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE INTO WEST ALABAMA EARLY THIS AFTERNOON AND WILL BE LOCATED NEAR THE ALABAMA/GEORGIA STATE LINE BY SUNSET. THE AIRMASS ACROSS THE REGION WILL BECOME MORE UNSTABLE AS SOUTH WINDS INCREASE DURING THE DAY. THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS OUTLOOKED THE AREA FOR A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. ANY THUNDERSTORMS THAT DEVELOP TODAY WILL HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO BECOME SEVERE...WITH LARGE HAIL BEING THE PRIMARY THREAT. STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL SHOULD BE ON STANDBY AND BE READY FOR SEVERE WEATHER ACTIVATION IF A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OR TORNADO WATCH IS ISSUED. 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.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 1, 10:54 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Calhoun | 46 min |
| Nov 1, 12:31 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Sumter | 49 min |
| Nov 1, 12:36 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Pickens, Tuscaloosa | 49 min |
| Nov 1, 12:38 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Jefferson | 47 min |
| Nov 1, 12:47 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Greene | 48 min |
| Nov 1, 1:14 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Marengo | 46 min |
| Nov 1, 1:22 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Hale | 63 min |
| Nov 1, 1:45 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Perry | 35 min |
| Nov 1, 1:58 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lauderdale, Limestone | 47 min |
| Nov 1, 2:03 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Jefferson, St. Clair | 47 min |
| Nov 1, 2:03 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Dallas | 32 min |
| Nov 1, 2:15 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Madison | 45 min |
| Nov 1, 2:25 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Perry | 35 min |
| Nov 1, 2:36 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Bullock, Montgomery | 49 min |
| Nov 1, 2:49 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Russell | 51 min |
| Nov 1, 2:56 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Calhoun, Talladega | 49 min |
| Nov 1, 3:12 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Macon | 33 min |
| Nov 1, 3:15 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Barbour | 50 min |
| Nov 1, 3:27 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Montgomery, Pike | 48 min |
| Nov 1, 3:36 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lee | 49 min |
| Nov 1, 3:53 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Russell | 47 min |
| Nov 1, 4:13 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Bullock, Montgomery | 32 min |
| Nov 1, 4:21 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Pike | 49 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.