Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 119, NWS Birmingham, AL

July 22, 1997Lee County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Jul 22, 1997, 2:51 PM CDT for Lee County, Alabama. It was in force for 34 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
Jul 22, 1997, 2:51 PM CDT (19:51 UTC)
Expired
Jul 22, 1997, 3:25 PM CDT
In force
34 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Lee County, AL

The radar

The Maxwell AFB radar (KMXX), 41 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:54 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 12:00Z, 7.9 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.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 12:00Z on 1997-07-22Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 661 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 12:00Z on 1997-07-22The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 38 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
661 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
490 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
10 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
38 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
117 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 KBHM 221952 RRA
TORBHM
ALC081-222025-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
251 PM CDT TUE JUL 22 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM AL HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 325 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN EAST CENTRAL ALABAMA

   ...NORTHERN LEE COUNTY
 
AT 248 PM CDT...WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM JUST NORTH
OF OPELIKA IN LEE COUNTY.  THERE HAVE BEEN REPORTS OF FUNNEL CLOUDS
WITH THIS STORM AND A POSSIBLE A TORNADO.  THE STORM WAS MOVING NORTH
AT 35 MPH.

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
Jul 21, 7:43 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXGreene, Hale, Tuscaloosa4 hr
Jul 21, 11:41 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXGreene, Hale, Tuscaloosa3 hr
Jul 22, 12:54 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXPickens4 hr
Jul 22, 2:56 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXChambers29 min
Jul 22, 3:33 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXGreene, Marengo3 hr
Jul 22, 3:41 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXRussell34 min
Jul 22, 5:18 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXBullock2 hr

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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.