Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1997
Tornado Warning 124, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Oct 25, 1997, 10:18 AM CDT for Marion County, Alabama. It was in force for 47 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
- Oct 25, 1997, 10:18 AM CDT (15:18 UTC)
- Expired
- Oct 25, 1997, 11:05 AM CDT
- In force
- 47 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Marion County, AL
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 25, 10:55 AM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 55 | Hamilton, AL | |
| Oct 25, 11:07 AM CDT | Hail 0.75 | Hamilton, 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 watch it was issued in
The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 25, 8:30 AM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 7 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 3.3 hours before the alert went out and 148 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
- 1546 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -6 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 507 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 45 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 119 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 191 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.9
- Supercell composite
- 4.8
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KBHM 251520 RRA TORBHM ALC093-251605- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 1018 AM CDT SAT OCT 25 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM AL HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1105 AM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN NORTHERN ALABAMA ...MARION COUNTY... AT 1017 AM CDT...WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM JUST WEST OF BEXAR. BEXAR AND SHOTSVILLE ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM. THE STORM WAS MOVING EAST NORTHEAST AT 35 TO 40 MPH. DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED THAT A TORNADO IS LIKELY ASSOCIATED WITH THIS STORM. IN ADDITION...DAMAGING WIND GUSTS GREATER THAN 60 MPH WILL ACCOMPANY THIS STORMS. THIS IS A DANGEROUS ST6ORM...TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY. <<CALL TO ACTION>> IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SAFETY IN A NEARBY REINFORCED BUILDING. AS A LAST RESORT... SEEK REFUGE IN A CULVERT... DITCH OR LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 25, 8:08 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | DeKalb | 52 min |
| Oct 25, 10:18 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Franklin | 42 min |
| Oct 25, 10:59 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Franklin | 61 min |
| Oct 25, 11:00 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Marion | 45 min |
| Oct 25, 11:10 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Winston | 45 min |
| Oct 25, 11:45 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lawrence | 60 min |
| Oct 25, 11:48 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Winston | 47 min |
| Oct 25, 12:20 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Cullman | 65 min |
| Oct 25, 12:22 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Lawrence, Limestone, Morgan | 68 min |
| Oct 25, 1:04 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Blount | 51 min |
| Oct 25, 1:08 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Madison, Marshall | 67 min |
| Oct 25, 1:22 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Montgomery | 48 min |
| Oct 25, 1:27 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Pike | 48 min |
| Oct 25, 2:13 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Bullock, Macon | 52 min |
| Oct 25, 2:27 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Pike | 48 min |
| Oct 25, 2:34 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Russell | 46 min |
| Oct 25, 2:37 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Randolph | 48 min |
| Oct 25, 2:45 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Barbour | 50 min |
| Oct 25, 4:36 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Franklin | 69 min |
| Oct 25, 5:45 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Colbert, Franklin, Lawrence | 60 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.