Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 51, NWS Birmingham, AL

March 13, 1997Russell County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Mar 13, 1997, 3:49 PM CST for Russell County, Alabama. It was in force for 31 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, 3:49 PM CST (21:49 UTC)
Expired
Mar 13, 1997, 4:20 PM CST
In force
31 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Russell County, AL

The radar

The Maxwell AFB radar (KMXX), 63 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:50 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

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 12:00Z, 9.8 hours before the alert went out and 136 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, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 12:00Z on 1997-03-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 12:00Z on 1997-03-13The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 160 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
847 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
44 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
160 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
208 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.

000 
TTAA00 KBHM 132148 RRA
TORBHM
ALC113-132220-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM AL HAS ISSUED A

TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 420 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN EAST CENTRAL ALABAMA

   ...NORTHERN RUSSELL
 
AT 348 PM CST...A DEVELOPING TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY WEATHER RADAR
7 MILES SOUTH OF LADONIA MOVING NORTH AT 35 MPH.

SOME LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO ARE...
LADONIA                     AROUND 356 PM CST
PHENIX CITY                 AROUND 358 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.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 13, 1:57 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMontgomery48 min
Mar 13, 2:39 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMacon46 min
Mar 13, 2:42 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXMacon, Montgomery48 min
Mar 13, 2:56 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXElmore49 min
Mar 13, 3:13 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXTallapoosa52 min
Mar 13, 3:16 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBullock, Macon49 min
Mar 13, 3:21 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXRussell49 min
Mar 13, 3:41 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLee49 min
Mar 13, 5:55 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXElmore, Macon50 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.