Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 49, NWS Birmingham, AL

March 13, 1997Macon County, Montgomery County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Mar 13, 1997, 2:42 PM CST for Macon County, Montgomery County, Alabama. It was in force for 48 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 13, 1997, 2:42 PM CST (20:42 UTC)
Expired: Mar 13, 1997, 3:30 PM CST
In force: 48 min
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL
Area: Whole counties

Counties Macon County, AL, Montgomery County, AL

The radar

The Maxwell AFB radar (KMXX), 30 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:46 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 nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 8.7 hours before the alert went out and 125 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 1001 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 192 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 243 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

973 
WFUS1 KBHM 132041 RRA
TORBHM
ALC087-101-132130-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
242 PM CST THU MAR 13 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM AL HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 330 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...

IN EAST CENTRAL ALABAMA

   ...MACON

IN CENTRAL ALABAMA

   ...MONTGOMERY
 
AT 241 PM CST...A POSSIBLE TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY WEATHER RADAR 6
MILES NORTHWEST OF CHESSON MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH.

SOME LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO ARE...
CHESSON                     AROUND 242 PM CST
SHORTER                     AROUND 251 PM CST
LA PLACE                    AROUND 253 PM CST
MILSTEAD                    AROUND 256 PM CST
TUSKEGEE                    AROUND 310 PM CST

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 SAFETY 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
Mar 13, 1:57 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Montgomery	48 min
Mar 13, 2:39 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Macon	46 min
Mar 13, 2:56 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Elmore	49 min
Mar 13, 3:13 PM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Tallapoosa	52 min
Mar 13, 3:16 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Bullock, Macon	49 min
Mar 13, 3:21 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Russell	49 min
Mar 13, 3:41 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Lee	49 min
Mar 13, 3:49 PM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Russell	31 min
Mar 13, 5:55 PM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Elmore, Macon	50 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.