Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 93, NWS Birmingham, AL

May 2, 1997Fayette County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at May 2, 1997, 10:47 PM CDT for Fayette County, Alabama. It was in force for 63 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 2, 1997, 10:47 PM CDT (03:47 UTC)
Expired
May 2, 1997, 11:50 PM CDT
In force
63 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Fayette County, AL

The radar

The Columbus AFB radar (KGWX), 58 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:47 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.

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 2, 8:00 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 3.8 hours before the alert went out and 107 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 00:00Z on 1997-05-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1924 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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 00:00Z on 1997-05-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 170 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
1924 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
894 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
55 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
170 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
279 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
3.0
Supercell composite
11.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBHM 030348 RRA
TORBHM
ALC057-030450-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
1047 PM CDT FRI MAY 2 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM AL HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1150 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA

   ...FAYETTE COUNTY
 
AT 1045 PM CDT...WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND
POSSIBLE TORNADO 11 MILES SOUTHWEST OF FAYETTE MOVING EAST AT 50 MPH.

SOME LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO ARE...
NEWTONVILLE                 AROUND 1055 PM CDT
BANKSTON                    AROUND 1105 PM CDT
BERRY                       AROUND 1110 PM CDT

IF YOU LIVE IN A HOME OR APARTMENT...SEEK REFUGE IN THE INNERMOST
PORTION OF THE BUILDING ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. GET TO A BASEMENT IF ONE
IS AVAILABLE. AVOID WINDOWS AND PROTECT YOUR BODY FROM FLYING DEBRIS
WITH CUSHIONS...BLANKETS...OR PILLOWS.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 2, 7:05 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCullman50 min
May 2, 7:13 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXCullman47 min
May 2, 7:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMadison, Morgan55 min
May 2, 7:29 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXMarshall61 min
May 2, 7:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJackson63 min
May 2, 8:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXDeKalb57 min
May 2, 8:11 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXDeKalb49 min
May 2, 8:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarshall60 min
May 2, 8:42 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXCherokee33 min
May 2, 8:54 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXLamar61 min
May 2, 9:22 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXFayette78 min
May 2, 9:37 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXMarion48 min
May 2, 9:56 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXWalker64 min
May 2, 10:20 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXLamar65 min
May 2, 10:23 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXWinston32 min
May 2, 10:28 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXCullman62 min
May 2, 10:41 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXDeKalb, Jackson, Marshall4 hr
May 2, 11:06 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXBlount49 min
May 2, 11:10 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXWalker50 min
May 2, 11:12 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXCullman, Marion, Walker, Winston3 hr
May 2, 11:12 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXFayette, Lamar3 hr
May 2, 11:32 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXMarshall43 min
May 2, 11:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLamar49 min
May 2, 11:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCullman49 min
May 2, 11:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXEtowah64 min
May 3, 12:01 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXDeKalb, Jackson59 min
May 3, 12:01 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXWalker34 min
May 3, 12:05 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFayette65 min
May 3, 12:15 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXEtowah45 min
May 3, 12:22 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXCherokee48 min
May 3, 12:24 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBlount66 min
May 3, 1:42 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCullman33 min
May 3, 1:45 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBlount50 min
May 3, 1:57 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXFayette, Lamar, Marion, Walker4 hr
May 3, 1:57 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXCullman, Winston4 hr
May 3, 1:57 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXBlount4 hr
May 3, 2:32 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXDeKalb, Jackson, Marshall3 hr
May 3, 3:27 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTuscaloosa48 min
May 3, 3:54 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXGreene36 min
May 3, 3:59 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXHale31 min
May 3, 5:06 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTalladega49 min
May 3, 5:37 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXAutauga, Chilton63 min
May 3, 6:11 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCoosa49 min
May 3, 6:33 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXElmore, Montgomery47 min
May 3, 6:33 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTallapoosa47 min
May 3, 7:40 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLee35 min
May 3, 7:58 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXRussell47 min
May 3, 8:04 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMacon31 min
May 3, 8:25 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLee30 min
May 3, 8:39 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXRussell46 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.