Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 71, NWS Birmingham, AL

May 2, 1997Morgan County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at May 2, 1997, 4:54 PM CDT for Morgan County, Alabama. It was in force for 66 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, 4:54 PM CDT (21:54 UTC)
Expired
May 2, 1997, 6:00 PM CDT
In force
66 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Morgan County, AL

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 2, 6:00 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 50Decatur, ALSeveral trees were uprooted in Decatur and Hartselle. There were also some power outages due to trees falling on the lines.

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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 2, 3:00 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 9.9 hours before the alert went out and 142 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, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 1997-05-02Temperature 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, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 1997-05-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 176 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
1681 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
45 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
176 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
229 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 KHSV 022153 RRA
TORHSV
ALC103-022300-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
454 PM CDT FRI MAY 2 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HUNTSVILLE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  600 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN NORTH ALABAMA
 
   ...MORGAN COUNTY
 
AT 452 PM CDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A
POSSIBLE TORNADO NORTH OF CADDO MOVING EAST AT A4ROUND 45 MPH.
 
WILL PASS NEAR DECATUR SHORTLY AFTER 500 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 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.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 2, 3:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXColbert, Lauderdale62 min
May 2, 3:34 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFranklin56 min
May 2, 3:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLamar, Marion63 min
May 2, 4:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFayette64 min
May 2, 4:26 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXColbert, Franklin, Lawrence64 min
May 2, 4:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXWinston64 min
May 2, 4:38 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXLauderdale52 min
May 2, 4:39 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXWalker81 min
May 2, 4:47 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXLimestone58 min
May 2, 4:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLamar, Marion35 min
May 2, 5:09 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXMadison66 min
May 2, 5:15 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXWinston35 min
May 2, 5:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFayette31 min
May 2, 5:22 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLamar48 min
May 2, 5:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCullman61 min
May 2, 5:36 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXMarshall69 min
May 2, 5:39 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXJackson66 min
May 2, 5:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarion49 min
May 2, 5:50 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXMarion50 min
May 2, 5:56 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXMarion34 min
May 2, 6:06 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXDeKalb69 min
May 2, 6:09 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXWinston51 min
May 2, 6:20 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXFranklin, Lawrence55 min
May 2, 6:20 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXMorgan55 min
May 2, 6:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarion47 min
May 2, 6:40 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXLamar, Marion45 min
May 2, 6:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJackson, Marshall67 min
May 2, 6:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCherokee23 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.