Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 32, NWS Birmingham, AL

February 21, 1997Marion County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Feb 21, 1997, 5:51 AM CST for Marion County, Alabama. It was in force for 69 min. 1 report 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: Feb 21, 1997, 5:51 AM CST (11:51 UTC)
Expired: Feb 21, 1997, 7:00 AM CST
In force: 69 min
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL
Area: Whole counties

County Marion County, AL

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Feb 21, 6:05 AM CST	Thunderstorm Wind 50	Hackleburg, 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 watch it was issued in

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

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Feb 21, 4:45 AM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 11.9 hours before the alert went out and 148 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: 133 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -10 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 825 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 136 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 228 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

560 
WFUS1 KBHM 211151 RRA
TORBHM
ALC093-211300-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
551 AM CST FRI FEB 21 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  700 AM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTH ALABAMA
 
   ...MARION COUNTY
 
AT 550 AM CST...WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS...
LIKELY PRODUCING TORNADOES WAS MOVING OVER THE WESTERN PART OF MARION
COUNTY IN THE BEXAR AREA. THE STORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 TO 40
MPH AND WILL AFFECT MOST LOCATIONS ACROSS THE COUNTY.
 
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.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Feb 21, 5:08 AM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Lamar, Pickens	52 min
Feb 21, 5:57 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Pickens	48 min
Feb 21, 6:00 AM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Fayette, Lamar	60 min
Feb 21, 6:05 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Winston	55 min
Feb 21, 6:11 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Franklin	64 min
Feb 21, 6:15 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Tuscaloosa	60 min
Feb 21, 6:18 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Franklin	57 min
Feb 21, 6:28 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Walker	62 min
Feb 21, 6:32 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Colbert, Lauderdale, Lawrence	58 min
Feb 21, 6:45 AM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Lawrence	45 min
Feb 21, 6:56 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Cullman	64 min
Feb 21, 7:10 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Limestone	50 min
Feb 21, 7:21 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Madison	54 min
Feb 21, 7:24 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Morgan	51 min
Feb 21, 7:53 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Jackson	67 min
Feb 21, 8:04 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Greene	56 min
Feb 21, 8:21 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Tuscaloosa	54 min
Feb 21, 8:47 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Dallas	43 min
Feb 21, 9:00 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Bibb	45 min
Feb 21, 9:22 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Autauga	38 min
Feb 21, 9:29 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Shelby	46 min
Feb 21, 9:38 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Lowndes	52 min
Feb 21, 9:57 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Autauga	33 min
Feb 21, 10:12 AM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Coosa, Elmore	48 min
Feb 21, 10:19 AM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Montgomery	41 min
Feb 21, 10:31 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Talladega	44 min
Feb 21, 10:36 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Lowndes	39 min
Feb 21, 10:45 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Tallapoosa	45 min
Feb 21, 10:57 AM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Montgomery	48 min
Feb 21, 11:01 AM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Elmore	29 min
Feb 21, 11:15 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Chambers, Lee	45 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.