Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 516, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Nov 1, 1997, 3:53 PM CST for Russell County, Alabama; Muscogee County, Georgia. It was in force for 47 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, 3:53 PM CST (21:53 UTC)
- Expired
- Nov 1, 1997, 4:40 PM CST
- In force
- 47 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Russell County, AL, Muscogee County, GA
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 1, 4:00 PM CST | Thunderstorm Wind 50 | Seale, AL | Trees were down and blocking the intersection of CR 18 and CR 39, in the eastern 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 |
| Nov 1, 3:30 PM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 12:00Z, 9.9 hours before the alert went out and 119 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 012154 RRA SVRBHM ALC113-GAC215-012240- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 353 PM CST SAT NOV 1 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM AL HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 440 PM CST (540 PM EST) FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... IN EAST CENTRAL ALABAMA ...RUSSELL COUNTY... IN WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA ...MUSCOGEE COUNTY... AT 351 PM CST (451 PM EST)... WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS SOUTHERN LEE COUNTY. THIS LINE OF STORMS WAS MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH AND HAS A HISTORY OF PRODUCING LARGE HAIL. REMEMBER... A TORNADO WATCH MEANS THAT TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE IN AND NEAR THE WATCH AREA. LARGE HAIL... DAMAGING WINDS... AND TORRENTIAL 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, 3:10 PM CST, 43 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, 3:36 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lee | 49 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 |
| Nov 1, 8:34 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Muscogee | 36 min |
| Nov 1, 2:55 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Muscogee | 50 min |
| Nov 1, 3:18 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Chattahoochee | 32 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Alabama, 1997Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Georgia, 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.