Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1997
Tornado Warning 36, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Feb 21, 1997, 10:19 AM CST for Montgomery County, Alabama. It was in force for 41 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, 10:19 AM CST (16:19 UTC)
- Expired
- Feb 21, 1997, 11:00 AM CST
- In force
- 41 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Montgomery County, AL
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 21, 10:35 AM CST | Thunderstorm Wind 76 | Montgomery, 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, 9:15 AM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | 5 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 4.3 hours before the alert went out and 119 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 116 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -30 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 589 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 64 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 475 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 530 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.9
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KBHM 211622 RRA TORBHM ALC101-211700- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 1019 AM CST FRI FEB 21 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1100 AM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN CENTRAL ALABAMA ...MONTGOMERY COUNTY ...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH THE POTENTIAL OF PRODUCING A TORNADO WILL MOVE INTO NORTHWEST MONTGOMERY COUNTY OVER THE MONTGOMERY METRO AREA WITHIN THE NEXT 10 MINUTES. THE STORM WAS MOVING EAST-NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH. 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 SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS... OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY. AVOID WINDOWS.
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, 5:51 AM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Marion | 69 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, 10:31 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, 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.