Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1997
Tornado Warning 128, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Oct 25, 1997, 12:20 PM CDT for Cullman County, Alabama. It was in force for 65 min. 3 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, 12:20 PM CDT (17:20 UTC)
- Expired
- Oct 25, 1997, 1:25 PM CDT
- In force
- 65 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Cullman County, AL
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 25, 12:33 PM CDT | Hail 0.75 | Jones Chapel, AL | |
| Oct 25, 12:42 PM CDT | Hail 2.75 | Cullman, AL | |
| Oct 25, 12:47 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 65 | Cullman, 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, 5.3 hours before the alert went out and 106 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.
163 WFUS1 KBHM 251721 RRA TORBHM ALC043-251825- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 1220 PM CDT SAT OCT 25 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM AL HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 125 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN NORTHERN ALABAMA ...CULLMAN COUNTY... AT 1219 PM CDT...WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER EAST WINSTON COUNTY IN THE ADDISON AREA. DOPPLER RADAR CONTINUES TO INDICATE THE LIKEIHOOD OF A TORNADO ASSOCIATED WITH THIS STORM. THE STORM WAS MOVING EAST AT 30 TO 35 MPH. THE STORM WILL AFFECT MOST COMMUNITIES ACROSS THE NORTH HALF OF THE COUNTY. THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM...PLEASE TAKE COVER. <<CALL TO ACTION>> IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO... THE SAFEST PLACE IS A BASEMENT. IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE... SEEK SAFETY IN AN INTERIOR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. 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.
| 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, 10:18 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Marion | 47 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, 12:22 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.