Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1997
Tornado Warning 50, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Mar 13, 1997, 3:13 PM CST for Tallapoosa County, Alabama. It was in force for 52 min. 2 reports 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
- Mar 13, 1997, 3:13 PM CST (21:13 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 13, 1997, 4:05 PM CST
- In force
- 52 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Tallapoosa County, AL
The radar
The Maxwell AFB radar (KMXX), 36 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:15 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.
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 13, 3:40 PM CST | Hail 0.75 | Dadeville, AL | |
| Mar 13, 3:45 PM CST | Hail 1 | Camphill, 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 nearest sounding before it
Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 9.2 hours before the alert went out and 98 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
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KBHM 132113 RRA TORBHM ALC123-132205- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 313 PM CST THU MAR 13 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM AL HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 405 PM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN EAST CENTRAL ALABAMA ...TALLAPOOSA AT 313 PM CST...A POSSIBLE TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY WEATHER RADAR 10 MILES SOUTHWEST OF WALNUT HILL MOVING NORTH AT 40 MPH. SOME LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO ARE... WALNUT HILL AROUND 324 PM CST DADEVILLE AROUND 337 PM CST JACKSONS GAP AROUND 342 PM CST ALEXANDER CITY AROUND 346 PM CST EASTON AROUND 346 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 LOWbEST 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, 2:42 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Macon, Montgomery | 48 min |
| Mar 13, 2:56 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Elmore | 49 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, 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.