Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1997
Tornado Warning 70, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at May 2, 1997, 4:47 PM CDT for Limestone County, Alabama. It was in force for 58 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
- May 2, 1997, 4:47 PM CDT (21:47 UTC)
- Expired
- May 2, 1997, 5:45 PM CDT
- In force
- 58 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Limestone County, AL
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 2, 5:02 PM CDT | Tornado F2 | Athens, AL | A tornado, rated at F2 on the Fujita scale, struck the southern and eastern sections of Athens in Limestone County. The tornado path began about 2 miles south-southwest of Athens near the intersection of Sanderfer Road and County Road 45. The tornado moved n |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 2, 3:00 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 12:00Z, 9.8 hours before the alert went out and 151 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
- 2241 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 49 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 160 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 297 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 KHSV 022145 RRA TORHSV ALC083-022245- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL 447 PM CDT FRI MAY 2 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HUNTSVILLE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 545 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... IN NORTH ALABAMA ...LIMESTONE COUNTY AT 443 PM CDT WEATHER SERVICE RADAR IN HUNTSVILLE INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO WITH NUMEROUS REPORTS OF FUNNEL CLOUDS NEAR KILLEN. THIS STORM WILL BE MOVING INTO WESTERN LIMESTONE COUNTY BETWEEN 445 AND 500 PM. MOVEMENT WAS EAST NORTHEAST AT 50 MILES AN HOUR. TORNADO WARNINGS REMAIN IN EFFECT FOR LAUDERDALE COUNTY UNTIL 530 PM...AND FRANKLIN...AND LAWRENCE COUNTIES UNTIL 530 PM... TORNADO WARNING CANCELED FOR FRANKLIN COUNTY. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2, 3:28 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Colbert, Lauderdale | 62 min |
| May 2, 3:34 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Franklin | 56 min |
| May 2, 3:52 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lamar, Marion | 63 min |
| May 2, 4:16 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Fayette | 64 min |
| May 2, 4:26 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Colbert, Franklin, Lawrence | 64 min |
| May 2, 4:31 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Winston | 64 min |
| May 2, 4:38 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Lauderdale | 52 min |
| May 2, 4:39 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Walker | 81 min |
| May 2, 4:50 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lamar, Marion | 35 min |
| May 2, 4:54 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Morgan | 66 min |
| May 2, 5:09 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Madison | 66 min |
| May 2, 5:15 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Winston | 35 min |
| May 2, 5:19 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Fayette | 31 min |
| May 2, 5:22 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lamar | 48 min |
| May 2, 5:29 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Cullman | 61 min |
| May 2, 5:36 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Marshall | 69 min |
| May 2, 5:39 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Jackson | 66 min |
| May 2, 5:46 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Marion | 49 min |
| May 2, 5:50 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Marion | 50 min |
| May 2, 5:56 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Marion | 34 min |
| May 2, 6:06 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | DeKalb | 69 min |
| May 2, 6:09 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Winston | 51 min |
| May 2, 6:20 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Franklin, Lawrence | 55 min |
| May 2, 6:20 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Morgan | 55 min |
| May 2, 6:28 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Marion | 47 min |
| May 2, 6:40 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Lamar, Marion | 45 min |
| May 2, 6:53 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Jackson, Marshall | 67 min |
| May 2, 6:57 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Cherokee | 23 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.