Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 72, NWS Birmingham, AL

May 2, 1997Madison County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at May 2, 1997, 5:09 PM CDT for Madison County, Alabama. It was in force for 66 min. 3 reports 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, 5:09 PM CDT (22:09 UTC)
Expired: May 2, 1997, 6:15 PM CDT
In force: 66 min
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL
Area: Whole counties

County Madison County, AL

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 2, 5:26 PM CDT	Tornado F2	Meridianville, AL	A short but powerful tornado struck the area northwest of Meridianville destroying four homes along with major damage to two otehrs and minor damage to twelve more. The tornado path began in an hope area just southwest of the Colonial Golf Course. The torndo
May 2, 5:34 PM CDT	Tornado F0	Owens Xrds, AL	A short tornado hit the Big Cove area of southeast Madison County damaging several houses and the wastewater treatment plant. A busienss with machinery outside and several tin-roofed buildings were also damaged. One older house that appeared abandoned was de
May 2, 5:40 PM CDT	Tornado F0	Owens Xrds, AL	A small tornado damaged roofs to 15 homes and downed a number of trees in Owens Crossroads.

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, 10.2 hours before the alert went out and 152 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: 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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KHSV 022208 RRA
TORHSV
ALC089-022315-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
509 PM CDT FRI MAY 2 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HUNTSVILLE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  615 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN NORTH ALABAMA
 
   ...MADISON COUNTY
 
AT 506 PM CDT WEATHER SERVICE RADAR IN HUNTSVILLE INDICATED A LINE OF
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING FROM NORTHERN LIMESTONE COUNTY JUST WEST
OF ARDMORE...SOUTHWARD THRU SOUTHEASTERN LAWRENCE COUNTY. THE POSSIBLE
TORNADO WAS INDICATED NEAR TANNER AND MOORESVILLE IN LIMESTONE COUNTY.
 
 
MOVEMENT EAST NORTHEAST AT 50 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
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, 4:47 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Limestone	58 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, 5:15 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, 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.