Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 41, NWS Birmingham, AL

March 1, 1997Colbert County, Lauderdale County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Mar 1, 1997, 2:26 AM CST for Colbert County, Lauderdale County, Alabama. It was in force for 64 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
Mar 1, 1997, 2:26 AM CST (08:26 UTC)
Expired
Mar 1, 1997, 3:30 AM CST
In force
64 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

Counties Colbert County, AL, Lauderdale County, AL

The watch it was issued in

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

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Mar 1, 1:00 AM CSTTornado WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 00:00Z, 8.4 hours before the alert went out and 180 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 00:00Z on 1997-03-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 535 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 00:00Z on 1997-03-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 296 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
535 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-19 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
644 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
68 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
296 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
328 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
2.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KHSV 010826 RRA
TORHSV
ALC033-077-010930-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
226 AM CST SAT MAR 1 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HUNTSVILLE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  330 AM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONSS...
 
IN NORTH ALABAMA
 
   ...WESTERN COLBERT COUNTY...LAUDERDALE COUNTY
 
AT 222 AM CST NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A THUNDERSTORM
POSSIBLY CONTAINING A TORNADO IN TISHOMINGO COUNTY OF NORTHEAST
MISSISSIPPI.
 
THIS STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST 45 MILES AND MAY MOVE INT0 COLBERT
COUNTY BETWEEN MARGERUM AND RIVERTON BETWEEN 230 AND 300 THIS
MORNING.
 
 
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.

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.