Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1997
Tornado Warning 66, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Apr 28, 1997, 5:51 PM CDT for DeKalb County, Alabama. It was in force for 69 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 28, 1997, 5:51 PM CDT (22:51 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 28, 1997, 7:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 69 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
County DeKalb County, AL
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 28, 6:05 PM CDT | Hail 0.75 | Ft Payne, AL | Three-quarter inch hail was reported in downtown Fort Payne. |
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 28, 3:00 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 5 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 10.9 hours before the alert went out and 168 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
- 263 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -100 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 504 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 77 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 134 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 152 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.6
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KHSV 282302 RRA TORHSV ALC049-282300- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED...CORRECTED TIME TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL 551 PM CDT MON APR 28 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HUNTSVILLE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 700 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... IN NORTH ALABAMA ...DEKALB COUNTY AT 549 PM CDT A TORNADO WAS INDICATED NEAR FYFFE. MOVEMENT WAS EAST NORTHEAST 20 MILES AN HOUR. 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 SHELTER 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 28, 1:10 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | St. Clair | 30 min |
| Apr 28, 1:46 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Talladega | 34 min |
| Apr 28, 2:10 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Calhoun | 60 min |
| Apr 28, 2:52 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Etowah, St. Clair | 63 min |
| Apr 28, 3:53 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Cherokee | 62 min |
| Apr 28, 4:16 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Blount | 49 min |
| Apr 28, 4:46 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Etowah | 64 min |
| Apr 28, 4:49 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Marshall | 56 min |
| Apr 28, 4:56 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Cullman, Winston | 64 min |
| Apr 28, 5:02 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | DeKalb | 58 min |
| Apr 28, 5:13 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Limestone, Madison | 62 min |
| Apr 28, 5:21 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | St. Clair | 49 min |
| Apr 28, 5:40 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Blount | 65 min |
| Apr 28, 6:08 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | St. Clair | 32 min |
| Apr 28, 6:15 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Etowah | 2 hr |
| Apr 28, 6:15 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Marshall | 60 min |
| Apr 28, 6:27 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Etowah | 48 min |
| Apr 28, 6:31 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Marshall | 59 min |
| Apr 28, 6:44 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Calhoun | 66 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.