Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1997
Tornado Warning 46, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Mar 3, 1997, 2:11 AM CST for Madison County, Morgan 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 3, 1997, 2:11 AM CST (08:11 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 3, 1997, 3:15 AM CST
- In force
- 64 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Madison County, AL, Morgan County, AL
The watch it was issued in
The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 2, 11:45 PM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | 5 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 8.2 hours before the alert went out and 159 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
- 18 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -90 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 588 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 70 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 323 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 420 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.8
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KHSV 030809 RRA TORHSV ALC089-103-030915- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL 211 AM CST MON MAR 3 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HUNTSVILLE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 315 AM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONSS... IN NORTH ALABAMA ...MADISON COUNTY...MORGAN COUNTY AT 207 AM CST RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING FROM NORTHEAST LIMESTONE INTO WESTERN MORGAN COUNTY POSSIBLY CONTAINING TORNADOS IN THE VICINITY OF ATHENS IN LIMESTONE COUNTY AND NEAR HARTSELLE IN MORGAN COUNTY. MOVEMENT WAS EAST AT 30 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. 0
The office that day
Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 2, 7:29 PM CST | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Colbert, Franklin, Lawrence | 3 hr |
| Mar 2, 7:29 PM CST | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Lauderdale, Limestone | 3 hr |
| Mar 2, 11:15 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Colbert, Lauderdale | 45 min |
| Mar 2, 11:35 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Marion | 40 min |
| Mar 2, 11:38 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Colbert, Franklin, Lauderdale | 67 min |
| Mar 2, 11:55 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lamar | 50 min |
| Mar 3, 12:05 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Marion | 55 min |
| Mar 3, 12:29 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Fayette | 61 min |
| Mar 3, 12:45 AM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Colbert, Lauderdale, Lawrence | 60 min |
| Mar 3, 12:45 AM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Franklin | 60 min |
| Mar 3, 12:46 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Winston | 59 min |
| Mar 3, 12:57 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Marion | 18 min |
| Mar 3, 1:02 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Walker | 58 min |
| Mar 3, 1:21 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Limestone | 69 min |
| Mar 3, 1:41 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lawrence, Morgan | 64 min |
| Mar 3, 2:03 AM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Limestone | 57 min |
| Mar 3, 2:41 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Marshall | 64 min |
| Mar 3, 2:46 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Blount | 44 min |
| Mar 3, 2:59 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Etowah | 46 min |
| Mar 3, 3:50 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Coosa, Elmore | 40 min |
| Mar 3, 4:10 AM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Coosa, Tallapoosa | 65 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.