Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 58, NWS Birmingham, AL

April 22, 1997Bibb County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Apr 22, 1997, 2:45 PM CDT for Bibb County, Alabama. It was in force for 35 min. 1 report 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: Apr 22, 1997, 2:45 PM CDT (19:45 UTC)
Expired: Apr 22, 1997, 3:20 PM CDT
In force: 35 min
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL
Area: Whole counties

County Bibb County, AL

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Apr 22, 2:55 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 50	West Blocton, AL	Numerous trees were down including one that fell onto a house. There was damage to several roofs in West Blocton.

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 watch it was issued in

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

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Apr 22, 1:30 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	8 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 7.8 hours before the alert went out and 38 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: 1576 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -52 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 667 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 117 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 216 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 6.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

162 
WFUS1 KBHM 221947 RRA
TORBHM
ALC007-222020-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
245 PM CDT TUE APR 22 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM AL HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 320 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN CENTRAL ALABAMA

   ...NORTHERN BIBB
 
AT 244 PM CDT...A TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY WEATHER RADAR IN THE
VICINITY OF LOWERYTOWN MOVING NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH.

SOME LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO ARE...
WOODSTOCK                   AROUND 249 PM CDT
GREEN POND                  AROUND 252 PM CDT

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
Apr 21, 7:04 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Winston	56 min
Apr 21, 7:20 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Jackson	55 min
Apr 21, 7:20 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Limestone	55 min
Apr 21, 7:32 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Madison	43 min
Apr 21, 10:38 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Calhoun	67 min
Apr 21, 11:17 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Cleburne	43 min
Apr 22, 1:03 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Shelby	57 min
Apr 22, 1:12 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Talladega	48 min
Apr 22, 1:33 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Clay	57 min
Apr 22, 1:54 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Franklin	66 min
Apr 22, 2:02 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Greene, Hale, Marengo, Sumter	48 min
Apr 22, 2:13 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Colbert	62 min
Apr 22, 2:30 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Blount, Jefferson, Walker	50 min
Apr 22, 2:40 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Tuscaloosa	50 min
Apr 22, 2:42 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Shelby	48 min
Apr 22, 2:51 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Autauga, Dallas, Lowndes	49 min
Apr 22, 2:55 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Shelby	35 min
Apr 22, 3:03 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Chilton	47 min
Apr 22, 3:14 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Dallas	46 min
Apr 22, 3:18 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Coosa, Talladega	47 min
Apr 22, 3:25 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Elmore, Montgomery	45 min
Apr 22, 3:31 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Tallapoosa	49 min
Apr 22, 3:35 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Autauga, Lowndes	50 min
Apr 22, 3:39 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Clay	46 min
Apr 22, 3:52 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Lowndes	48 min
Apr 22, 4:00 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	DeKalb	30 min
Apr 22, 4:02 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Elmore, Montgomery	48 min
Apr 22, 4:10 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Chambers, Randolph	50 min
Apr 22, 4:15 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Tallapoosa	50 min
Apr 22, 4:17 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Bullock, Macon	48 min
Apr 22, 4:26 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Lee	49 min
Apr 22, 4:27 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Chambers	48 min
Apr 22, 4:46 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Marengo	49 min
Apr 22, 5:02 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Sumter	48 min
Apr 22, 5:14 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Russell	46 min
Apr 22, 6:06 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Dallas	49 min
Apr 22, 6:17 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Dallas	43 min
Apr 22, 6:26 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Lowndes	49 min
Apr 22, 6:53 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Autauga, Elmore, Montgomery	52 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.