Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 130, NWS Birmingham, AL

October 25, 1997Blount County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Oct 25, 1997, 1:04 PM CDT for Blount County, Alabama. It was in force for 51 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: Oct 25, 1997, 1:04 PM CDT (18:04 UTC)
Expired: Oct 25, 1997, 1:55 PM CDT
In force: 51 min
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL
Area: Whole counties

County Blount County, AL

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, 6.1 hours before the alert went out and 91 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBHM 251806 RRA
TORBHM
ALC009-251850-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
104 PM CDT SAT OCT 25 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM AL HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 155 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN NORTHERN ALABAMA

   ...NORTHERN BLOUNT COUNTY...

AT 104 PM CDT...WEATHER RADAR CONTINUED TO SHOW A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
MOVING ACROSS PARTS OF CULLMAN COUNTY IN THE CULLMAN AREA.  THE STORM
WAS MOVING EAST AT 30 TO 35 MPH.  THE STORM WILL AFFECT THE NORTHERN
PART OF BLOUNT COUNTY.

<<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.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Oct 25, 12:00 PM CDT, 1 hour 4 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM
1200 PM CDT SAT OCT 25 1997

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

1103 AM    HAMILTON                  AL   WIND DAMAGE
10/25/97   MARION                         TREE DOWN ON HOUSE IN
                                          HAMILTON.  OTH
                                          .

1107 AM    HAMILTON                  AL   .75 INCH HAIL
10/25/97   MARION                         DIME-SIZE HAIL IN HAMILTON
                                          AT HIGHWAYS 43 AND 78.

1132 AM    HALEYVILLE                AL   .75 INCH HAIL
10/25/97   WINSTON                        DIME SIZE HAIL IN
                                          HALEYVILLE.

Local storm report, Oct 25, 12:02 PM CDT, 1 hour 2 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM
1200 PM CDT SAT OCT 25 1997

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

1103 AM    HAMILTON                  AL   WIND DAMAGE
10/25/97   MARION                         TREE DOWN ON HOUSE IN
                                          HAMILTON.  OTH
                                          .

1107 AM    HAMILTON                  AL   .75 INCH HAIL
10/25/97   MARION                         DIME-SIZE HAIL IN HAMILTON
                                          AT HIGHWAYS 43 AND 78.

1132 AM    HALEYVILLE                AL   .75 INCH HAIL
10/25/97   WINSTON                        DIME SIZE HAIL IN
                                          HALEYVILLE.

Local storm report, Oct 25, 12:30 PM CDT, 34 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM
1230 PM CDT SAT OCT 25 1997

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

1158 AM    DOUBLE SPGS               AL   .75 INCH HAIL
10/25/97   WINSTON                        DIME SIZE HAIL IN DOUBLE
                                          SPRINGS.

1203 PM    ASHRIDGE                  AL   1 INCH HAIL
10/25/97   WINSTON                        QUARTER-SIZE HAIL AT ASH
                                          RIDGE.

1222 PM    ADDISON                   AL   .75 INCH HAIL
10/25/97   WINSTON                        DIME SIZE HAIL IN ADDISON
                                          AREA.

1225 PM    ARLEY                     AL   1 INCH HAIL
10/25/97   WINSTON                        QUARTER SIZE HAIL IN
                                          ARLEY.

Local storm report, Oct 25, 12:32 PM CDT, 32 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM
1230 PM CDT SAT OCT 25 1997

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

1158 AM    DOUBLE SPGS               AL   .75 INCH HAIL
10/25/97   WINSTON                        DIME SIZE HAIL IN DOUBLE
                                          SPRINGS.

1203 PM    ASHRIDGE                  AL   1 INCH HAIL
10/25/97   WINSTON                        QUARTER-SIZE HAIL AT ASH
                                          RIDGE.

1222 PM    ADDISON                   AL   .75 INCH HAIL
10/25/97   WINSTON                        DIME SIZE HAIL IN ADDIS
ON
                                          AREA.

1225 PM    ARLEY                     AL   1 INCH HAIL
10/25/97   WINSTON                        QUARTER SIZE HAIL IN
                                          ARLEY.

Local storm report, Oct 25, 12:50 PM CDT, 14 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM
1250 PM CDT SAT OCT 25 1997

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

1240 PM    JONES CHAPEL              AL   .75 INCH HAIL
10/25/97   CULLMAN                        DIME SIZE HAIL IN JONES
                                          CHAPEL

1249 PM    CULLMAN                   AL   1.75 INCH HAIL
10/25/97   CULLMAN                        GOLF-BALL SIZE HAIL AT
                                          WEST POINT TO THE
                                          NORTHWEST OF CITY OF
                                          CULLMAN

Local storm report, Oct 25, 12:52 PM CDT, 12 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM
1250 PM CDT SAT OCT 25 1997

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

1240 PM    JONES CHAPEL              AL   .75 INCH HAIL
10/25/97   CULLMAN                        DIME SIZE HAIL IN JONES
                                          CHAPEL

1249 PM    CULLMAN                   AL   1.75 INCH HAIL
10/258/97   CULLMAN                        GOLF-BALL SIZE HAIL AT
                                          WEST POINT TO THE
                                          NORTHWEST OF CITY OF
                                          CULLMAN

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, 12:20 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Cullman	65 min
Oct 25, 12:22 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Lawrence, Limestone, Morgan	68 min
Oct 25, 1:08 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, 1997 Every tornado warning in 1997 Tornadoes 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.