Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 515, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Nov 1, 1997, 3:36 PM CST for Lee County, Alabama. It was in force for 49 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, 3:36 PM CST (21:36 UTC)
- Expired
- Nov 1, 1997, 4:25 PM CST
- In force
- 49 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Lee County, AL
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 1, 3:40 PM CST | Hail 1.75 | Opelika, AL | Golf ball size hail was reported just south of Opelika. |
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
Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 12:00Z, 9.6 hours before the alert went out and 117 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
- 516 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 33 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 54 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 89 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 012136 RRA SVRBHM ALC081-012225- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 336 PM CST SAT NOV 1 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM AL HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 425 PM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN EAST CENTRAL ALABAMA ...LEE COUNTY... AT 334 PM CST... WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM NEAR BEAUREGARD. THIS STORM WAS MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH AND WILL BE MOVING INTO THE TOWNS OF SALEM AND GRIFFIN MILL BETWEEN 345 AND 400 PM. REMEMBER... A TORNADO WATCH MEANS THAT TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE IN AND NEAR THE WATCH AREA. LARGE HAIL... DAMAGING WINDS... AND TORRENTIALH RAINFALL MAY ALSO OCCUR. BE READY TO SEEK A PLACE OF SAFETY IF A WARNING IS ISSUED FOR YOUR AREA.
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, 5 hours 59 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, 5 hours 56 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, 3:10 PM CST, 26 minutes before
ALZ032-039-051-012230- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 410 PM CDT SAT NOV 1 1997 THE TORNADO WATCH HAS BEEN CANCELLED FOR THE FOLLOWING WEST ALABAMA COUNTIES... HALE...MARENGO AND CHOCTAW SEVERE WEATHER HAS MOVED EAST OF THAT AREA.
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, 2:30 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Pike | 50 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, 3:53 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.