Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 115, NWS Birmingham, AL

June 16, 1997Tallapoosa County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Jun 16, 1997, 6:16 PM CDT for Tallapoosa County, Alabama. It was in force for 49 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
Jun 16, 1997, 6:16 PM CDT (23:16 UTC)
Expired
Jun 16, 1997, 7:05 PM CDT
In force
49 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Tallapoosa County, AL

The radar

The Maxwell AFB radar (KMXX), 36 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:17 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jun 16, 6:40 PM CDTHail 0.75Newsite, AL
Jun 16, 6:55 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 56Newsite, AL

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 nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 11.3 hours before the alert went out and 98 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, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 1997-06-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 108 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, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 1997-06-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 136 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
108 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-54 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
897 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
136 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
212 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBHM 162316 RRA
TORBHM
ALC123-170005-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
616 PM CDT MON JUN 16 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM AL HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 705 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN EAST CENTRAL ALABAMA

   ...NORTHERN TALLAPOOSA COUNTY
 
AT 615 PM CDT...WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A POSSIBLE TORNADO 5 MILES
WEST OF GOLDVILLE MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 10 MPH.

SOME LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO ARE...
GOLDVILLE                   AROUND 637 PM CDT
NEW SITE                    AROUND 648 PM CDT

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A BASEMENT.
GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS
AVAILABLE...SEEK SAFETY IN AN INTERIOR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE
LOWEST FLOOR. USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.
AVOID WINDOWS.

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, 3:13 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXMadison62 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, 6:46 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.