Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 139, NWS Birmingham, AL

October 25, 1997Lawrence County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Oct 25, 1997, 7:03 PM CDT for Lawrence County, Alabama. It was in force for 57 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, 7:03 PM CDT (00:03 UTC)
Expired: Oct 25, 1997, 8:00 PM CDT
In force: 57 min
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL
Area: Whole counties

County Lawrence County, AL

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where
Oct 25, 7:28 PM CDT	Hail 1	Moulton, AL
Oct 25, 7:40 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 50	Hatton, AL
Oct 25, 7:49 PM CDT	Hail 1	Moulton, 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 nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 0.1 hours before the alert went out and 157 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: 925 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -10 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 511 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 45 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 245 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 269 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 1.4
Supercell composite: 7.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KHSV 260003 RRA
TORHSV
ALC079-260100-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
703 PM CDT (603 PM CST) SAT OCT 25 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HUNTSVILLE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  800 PM CDT (700 PM CST)
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN NORTH ALABAMA
 
   ...LAWRENCE COUNTY
 
AT 700 PM CDT WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO FORMING IN
EXTREME WESTERN LAWRENCE COUNTY SOUTHWEST OF HATTON.
 
THE STORM WAS MOVING EAST-NORTHEAST AT 30 TO 35 MILES.
 
 
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 SHE(LTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  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, 1:06 PM CDT, 5 hours 57 minutes before

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

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

1254 PM    CULLMAN                   AL   .88 INCH HAIL
10/25/97   CULLMAN                        NICKEL SIZE HAIL AT
                                          JUNCTION OF HWY. 157 AND
                                          I-65

0105 PM    CULLMAN                   AL   2.75 INCH HAIL
10/25/97   CULLMAN                        BASEBALL SIZE HAIL AT
                                          CULLMAN

Local storm report, Oct 25, 1:07 PM CDT, 5 hours 56 minutes before

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

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

1254 PM    CULLMAN                   AL   .88 INCH HAIL
10/25/97   CULLMAN                        NICKEL SIZE HAIL AT
                                          JUNCTION OF HWY. 157 AND
                                          I-65

0105 PM    CULLMAN                   AL   2.75 INCH HAIL
10/25/97   CULLMAN                        BASEBALL SIZE HAIL AT
                                          CULLMAN

Local storm report, Oct 25, 1:25 PM CDT, 5 hours 38 minutes before

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

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

0115 PM    CULLMAN                   AL   WIND DAMAGE
10/25/97   CULLMAN                        NUMEROUS LARGE TREES DOWN
                                          ON HOMES AND VEHICLES IN
                                          CULLMAN...ALSO SHED ROOFS
                                          BLOWN OFF

Local storm report, Oct 25, 1:27 PM CDT, 5 hours 36 minutes before

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

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

0115 PM    CULLMAN                   AL   WIND DAMAGE
10/25/97   CULLMAN                        NUMEROUS LARGE TREES DOWN
                                          ON HOMES AND VEHICLES IN
                                          CULLMAN...ALSO SHED ROOFS
                                          BLOWN OFF

The office that day

Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Oct 25, 7:33 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Limestone	57 min
Oct 25, 7:44 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Morgan	61 min
Oct 25, 8:05 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Madison	55 min
Oct 25, 8:52 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Montgomery	48 min
Oct 25, 9:34 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Bullock	36 min
Oct 25, 11:28 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Madison	47 min
Oct 26, 12:38 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Blount, Jefferson	32 min
Oct 26, 1:42 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Jefferson	33 min
Oct 26, 1:49 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	St. Clair	66 min
Oct 26, 1:08 AM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Calhoun, Etowah	47 min
Oct 26, 3:09 AM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Cherokee	46 min
Oct 26, 3:17 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Montgomery	63 min
Oct 26, 3:50 AM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Elmore	45 min
Oct 26, 3:52 AM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Montgomery	33 min
Oct 26, 4:04 AM CST	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Calhoun, Etowah, St. Clair	4 hr
Oct 26, 4:25 AM CST	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Cherokee	5 hr
Oct 26, 4:28 AM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Macon	52 min
Oct 26, 4:28 AM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Macon	47 min
Oct 26, 4:45 AM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Lowndes	50 min
Oct 26, 4:47 AM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Russell	48 min
Oct 26, 4:57 AM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Montgomery	48 min
Oct 26, 5:01 AM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Lee	49 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.