Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 20, NWS Birmingham, AL

January 24, 1997Franklin County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Jan 24, 1997, 6:30 PM CST for Franklin County, Alabama. It was in force for 60 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
Jan 24, 1997, 6:30 PM CST (00:30 UTC)
Expired
Jan 24, 1997, 7:30 PM CST
In force
60 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Franklin County, AL

The watch it was issued in

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

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Jan 24, 3:30 PM CSTTornado WatchSPC7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 0.5 hours before the alert went out and 171 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, Birmingham, AL at 00:00Z on 1997-01-25Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 966 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Birmingham, AL at 00:00Z on 1997-01-25The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 494 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
966 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-6 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
568 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
53 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
494 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
542 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
2.9
Supercell composite
11.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KHSV 250030 RRA
TORHSV
ALC059-250130-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
630 PM CST FRI JAN 24 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HUNTSVILLE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  730 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN NORTH ALABAMA
 
   ...FRANKLIN COUNTY
 
AT 628 PM CST WEATHER SERVICE RADAR IN HUNTSVILLE INDICATED A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM WITH A POSSIBLE TORNADO OVER SOUTH CENTRAL FRANKLIN COUNTY
NEAR AND NORTHEAST OF HODGES. OTHER SEVER THUNDERSTORMS WERE OVER
WESTERN FRANKLIN COUNTY. THESE STORMS HAVE PRODUCED GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL
IN FRANKLIN COUNTY.
 
MOVEMENT WAS EAST AT 45 MILES AN HOUR.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION.  ACT QUICKLY.  IF YOU ARE
IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF
AVAILABLE.  OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR POSSIBLE.  AVOID WINDOWS.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES
FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.
 
 
 
&

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 24, 6:10 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFranklin65 min
Jan 24, 6:14 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXWalker61 min
Jan 24, 6:17 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXWinston43 min
Jan 24, 6:20 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMorgan55 min
Jan 24, 6:23 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCleburne52 min
Jan 24, 6:32 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXSt. Clair43 min
Jan 24, 6:35 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJackson55 min
Jan 24, 6:38 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXTalladega37 min
Jan 24, 6:45 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLawrence60 min
Jan 24, 6:45 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarshall60 min
Jan 24, 6:54 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCullman51 min
Jan 24, 6:54 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson51 min
Jan 24, 6:59 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXMarshall61 min
Jan 24, 7:01 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBlount44 min
Jan 24, 7:09 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMorgan66 min
Jan 24, 7:09 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXDeKalb66 min
Jan 24, 7:11 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCalhoun64 min
Jan 24, 7:31 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLimestone, Madison59 min
Jan 24, 7:31 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXBlount44 min
Jan 24, 7:37 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXCalhoun, Cleburne53 min
Jan 24, 7:41 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXWalker49 min
Jan 24, 7:46 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPickens, Tuscaloosa59 min
Jan 24, 7:53 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXEtowah52 min
Jan 24, 7:55 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJackson65 min
Jan 24, 8:01 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCullman59 min
Jan 24, 8:01 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson59 min
Jan 24, 8:09 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXSt. Clair36 min
Jan 24, 8:12 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXDeKalb63 min
Jan 24, 8:24 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBlount51 min
Jan 24, 8:28 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXJefferson47 min
Jan 24, 8:33 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXWalker57 min
Jan 24, 8:35 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXGreene, Sumter40 min
Jan 24, 8:41 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTuscaloosa49 min
Jan 24, 8:51 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBibb69 min
Jan 24, 8:51 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson, St. Clair, Shelby69 min
Jan 24, 8:51 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXHale69 min
Jan 24, 8:59 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCherokee31 min
Jan 24, 9:03 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXBlount, St. Clair27 min
Jan 24, 9:12 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXGreene, Sumter48 min
Jan 24, 9:45 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXEtowah30 min
Jan 24, 9:56 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBibb, Hale, Shelby64 min
Jan 24, 9:56 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXGreene, Sumter64 min
Jan 24, 9:56 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCalhoun, St. Clair, Talladega64 min
Jan 24, 10:18 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson42 min
Jan 24, 10:23 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCleburne67 min
Jan 24, 10:45 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarengo45 min
Jan 24, 11:01 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXChilton44 min
Jan 24, 11:29 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXAutauga31 min
Jan 24, 11:32 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPerry28 min
Jan 24, 11:36 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXDallas54 min
Jan 25, 12:09 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXAutauga51 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.