Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 155, NWS Mobile, AL
NWS Mobile, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 3, 1997, 4:51 AM CDT for Choctaw County, Alabama. It was in force for 69 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 3, 1997, 4:51 AM CDT (09:51 UTC)
- Expired
- May 3, 1997, 6:00 AM CDT
- In force
- 69 min
- Issued by
- NWS Mobile, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Choctaw County, AL
The radar
The Mobile radar (KMOB), 149 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 09:54 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 3, 5:05 AM CDT | Hail 0.75 | Rock Spgs, AL | Dime size hail was reported around Rock Springs. |
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 3, 2:00 AM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Jackson, MS (KJAN), launched 00:00Z, 9.9 hours before the alert went out and 174 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
- 2009 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -16 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1075 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 61 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 276 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 400 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 4.0
- Supercell composite
- 14.9
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
887 WUUS1 KMOB 030951 RRA SVRMOB ALC023-031100- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL 451 AM CDT SAT MAY 3 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 600 AM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN SOUTHWEST ALABAMA ...CHOCTAW COUNTY AT 451 AM CDT...WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR IN MOBILE INDICATED AN AREA OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO CHOCTAW COUNTY FROM THE WEST. THIS AREA OF STORMS WAS MOVING TO THE EAST AT 35 MPH AND WILL BE AFFECTI AREAS FROM MELVIN TO BUTLER TO CROMWELL DURING THE NEXT HOUR. LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING WILL BE THE MAIN THREAT WITH THESE STORMS. WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING. DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS. DONT USE TELEPHONES OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED. MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE INTO LOW WATER CROSSINGS.
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Alabama, 1997Every severe thunderstorm warning 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.