Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 533, NWS Birmingham, AL

November 30, 1997Madison County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Nov 30, 1997, 12:59 PM CST for Madison County, Alabama. It was in force for 46 min. 2 reports 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 30, 1997, 12:59 PM CST (18:59 UTC)
Expired: Nov 30, 1997, 1:45 PM CST
In force: 46 min
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL
Area: Whole counties

County Madison County, AL

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Nov 30, 1:27 PM CST	Hail 0.75	Hazel Green, AL	Hail covered the ground in Hazel Green.
Nov 30, 1:45 PM CST	Hail 1.75	Huntsville, AL	Golf ball sized hail was reported at Carters Gin Road in the northwest 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 30, 11:00 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 12:00Z, 7.0 hours before the alert went out and 152 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.

Skew-T log-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.

Mixed-layer CAPE: 194 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -3 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 496 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 61 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 77 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KHSV 301858
SVRHSV
ALC089-301945-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
1259 PM CST SUN NOV 30 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HUNTSVILLE HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  145 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN NORTH ALABAMA
 
   ...NORTHERN MADISON COUNTY
 
AT 1255 PM...RADAR SHOWED THE HAIL PRODUCING THUNDERSTORM LOCATED OVER
NORTHERN MADISON COUNTY TO BE MOVING TOWARDS THE NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.
 
IT SHOULD PASS CLOSE TO MERIDIANVILLE...HAZEL GREEN AND TOWARDS NEW
MARKET BETWEEN 1 AND 145 PM.
 
 
 
WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A
STRONG BUILDING.  DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS.  DON'T USE TELEPHONES
OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL THE STORM
HAS PASSED.  MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE INTO LOW WATER CROSSINGS.

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 30, 9:26 AM CST, 3 hours 33 minutes before

ALZ001>050-GAZ089-090-102-120-302300-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
FOR NORTH/CENTRAL AL AND WEST CENTRAL GA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
0930 AM CST SUN NOV 30 1997

A BAND OF THUNDERSTORMS MAY MOVE WEST TO EAST THROUGH NORTH ALABAMA
THIS AFTERNOON WHICH MAY PRODUCE SOME HAIL.  IT IS POSSIBLE THAT SOME
OF THE STORMS COULD PRODUCE DIME SIZE OR LARGER HAIL.

ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL
MAY BECOME NECESSARY LATER TODAY IN NORTH ALABAMA.

FOR THE SOUTHERN ALABAMA HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...SEE PRODUCT
BHMSPSMOB. FOR MORE WEATHER INFORMATION VISIT OUR INTERNET WEB 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 30, 11:53 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Limestone	52 min
Nov 30, 12:06 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Madison	54 min
Nov 30, 12:14 PM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Limestone, Madison	46 min
Nov 30, 12:35 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Lauderdale	40 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Alabama, 1997 Every 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.