Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 30, NWS Birmingham, AL

January 24, 1997Blount County, St. Clair County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Jan 24, 1997, 9:03 PM CST for Blount County, St. Clair County, Alabama. It was in force for 27 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, 9:03 PM CST (03:03 UTC)
Expired
Jan 24, 1997, 9:30 PM CST
In force
27 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

Counties Blount County, AL, St. Clair County, AL

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 81 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:07 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

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
Jan 24, 4:45 PM CSTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 3.1 hours before the alert went out and 81 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.

341 
WFUS1 KBHM 250303 RRA
TORBHM
ALC115-009-250330-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
903 PM CST FRI JAN 24 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  930 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN CENTRAL ALABAMA
 
   ...NORTHERN ST. CLAIR COUNTY
 
IN NORTH ALABAMA
 
   ...SOUTHERN BLOUNT COUNTY
 
A RADAR-INDICATED TORNADO WAS LOCATED OVER SOUTHERN BLOUNT COUNTY NEAR
REMLAP. THIS STORM WILL MOVE EAST ACROSS INLAND LAKE IN BLOUNT COUNTY
AND NORTH OF I-59 IN ST. CLAIR COUNTY THROUGH 930 PM. MOVEMENT WAS EAST
AT 40 MPH.
 
 
 
DO NOT USE YOUR CAR TO TRY TO OUTRUN A TORNADO.  CARS ARE EASILY
TOSSED AROUND BY TORNADO WINDS.  IF YOU ARE CAUGHT IN THE PATH OF
A TORNADO...LEAVE THE CAR AND GO TO A STRONG BUILDING.  IF NO
STRUCTURE IS NEARBY...SEEK SHELTER IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT.

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, 6:30 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXFranklin60 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, 9:12 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.