Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 108, NWS Birmingham, AL

June 16, 1997Madison County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Jun 16, 1997, 3:13 PM CDT for Madison County, Alabama. It was in force for 62 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jun 16, 1997, 3:13 PM CDT (20:13 UTC)
Expired
Jun 16, 1997, 4:15 PM CDT
In force
62 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Madison County, AL

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Jun 16, 1:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 12:00Z, 8.2 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 1997-06-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 9 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 1997-06-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 189 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
9 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-97 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1067 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
189 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
217 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KHSV 162013 RRA
TORHSV
ALC089-162115-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
313 PM CDT MON JUN 16 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HUNTSVILLE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  415 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN NORTH ALABAMA
 
   ...MADISON COUNTY
 
AT 312 PM CDT WEATHER SERVICE RADAR IN HUNTSVILLE INDICATED TORNADO NEAR
REDSTONE ARSENAL IN HUNTSVILLE.
 
MOVEMENT WAS EAST NORTHEAST AROUND 20 MILES AN HOUR.
 
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION.  ACT QUICKLY.  IF YOU ARE
IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF
AVAILABLE.  OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR POSSIBLE.  AVOID WINDOWS.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES
FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 16, 1:08 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXColbert67 min
Jun 16, 1:13 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXLawrence62 min
Jun 16, 1:50 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXLimestone55 min
Jun 16, 2:02 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXFranklin58 min
Jun 16, 2:20 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXColbert, Lawrence55 min
Jun 16, 3:03 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXMorgan57 min
Jun 16, 3:08 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarion62 min
Jun 16, 3:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFranklin56 min
Jun 16, 3:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLawrence, Limestone63 min
Jun 16, 3:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarshall69 min
Jun 16, 4:01 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXMorgan59 min
Jun 16, 4:05 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXMarshall55 min
Jun 16, 4:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCleburne65 min
Jun 16, 4:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCullman, Walker48 min
Jun 16, 4:53 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXTalladega47 min
Jun 16, 4:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBlount, Jefferson64 min
Jun 16, 5:10 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXJefferson50 min
Jun 16, 5:16 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXClay49 min
Jun 16, 5:41 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSt. Clair, Shelby64 min
Jun 16, 6:02 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXClay33 min
Jun 16, 6:09 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTalladega51 min
Jun 16, 6:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPickens64 min
Jun 16, 6:16 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXTallapoosa49 min
Jun 16, 6:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXClay49 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Alabama, 1997Every tornado warning in 1997Tornadoes 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.