Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 135, NWS Birmingham, AL

October 25, 1997Russell County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Oct 25, 1997, 2:34 PM CDT for Russell County, Alabama. It was in force for 46 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, 2:34 PM CDT (19:34 UTC)
Expired
Oct 25, 1997, 3:20 PM CDT
In force
46 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Russell County, AL

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Oct 25, 1:30 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 12:00Z, 7.6 hours before the alert went out and 136 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 1997-10-25Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 989 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°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 1997-10-25The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 162 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
989 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-3 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
489 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
47 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
162 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
191 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.8
Supercell composite
3.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBHM 251936 RRA
TORBHM
ALC113-252020-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM AL HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 320 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN EAST CENTRAL ALABAMA

   ...RUSSELL COUNTY...

AT 232 PM CDT... WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A TORNADO OVER SOUTHEAST MACON
COUNTY NEAR THE TOWN OF CREEK STAND.  THIS STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST
AT 35 MPH AND WILL MOVE INTO WESTERN RUSSELL COUNTY BY 245 PM.  THIS
TRACK WILL TAKE THE STORM ACROSS THE TOWN OF HURTSBORO.


<<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.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 25, 8:08 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXDeKalb52 min
Oct 25, 10:18 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFranklin42 min
Oct 25, 10:18 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXMarion47 min
Oct 25, 10:59 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFranklin61 min
Oct 25, 11:00 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXMarion45 min
Oct 25, 11:10 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXWinston45 min
Oct 25, 11:45 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLawrence60 min
Oct 25, 11:48 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXWinston47 min
Oct 25, 12:20 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXCullman65 min
Oct 25, 12:22 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXLawrence, Limestone, Morgan68 min
Oct 25, 1:04 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXBlount51 min
Oct 25, 1:08 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMadison, Marshall67 min
Oct 25, 1:22 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXMontgomery48 min
Oct 25, 1:27 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXPike48 min
Oct 25, 2:13 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXBullock, Macon52 min
Oct 25, 2:27 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXPike48 min
Oct 25, 2:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXRandolph48 min
Oct 25, 2:45 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXBarbour50 min
Oct 25, 4:36 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXFranklin69 min
Oct 25, 5:45 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXColbert, Franklin, Lawrence60 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.