Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 79, NWS Birmingham, AL

May 2, 1997Winston County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at May 2, 1997, 6:09 PM CDT for Winston County, Alabama. It was in force for 51 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, 6:09 PM CDT (23:09 UTC)
Expired
May 2, 1997, 7:00 PM CDT
In force
51 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Winston County, AL

The radar

The Columbus AFB radar (KGWX), 92 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:11 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 2, 6:40 PM CDTHail 0.88Haleyville, ALNickel size hail was reported in Haleyville.

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, 11.2 hours before the alert went out and 121 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 KBHM 022310 RRA
TORBHM
ALC133-030000-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
609 PM CDT FRI MAY 2 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM AL HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 700 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN NORTHERN ALABAMA

   ...WINSTON
 
AT 608 PM CDT...WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A TORNADO NEAR THE MARION-WINSTON
COUNTY LINE...JUST SOUTHWEST OF HALEYVILLE.  THE STORM WAS MOVING
NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH.




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.

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, 4:54 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXMorgan66 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, 6:20 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.