Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 158, NWS Mobile, AL
NWS Mobile, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 15, 1997, 3:14 PM CDT for Mobile County, Alabama. It was in force for 46 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 15, 1997, 3:14 PM CDT (20:14 UTC)
- Expired
- May 15, 1997, 4:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 46 min
- Issued by
- NWS Mobile, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Mobile County, AL
The radar
The Mobile radar (KMOB), 4 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:14 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 15, 3:20 PM CDT | Hail 1.75 | Saraland, AL | Golfball to dime size hail was reported along I65 from Saraland to Mobile. |
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 nearest sounding before it
Slidell Radar S, LA (KSIL), launched 12:00Z, 8.2 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 655 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -81 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 895 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 25 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 31 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 88 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 1.1
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
058 WUUS1 KMOB 152011 RRA SVRMOB ALC097-152100- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL 314 PM CDT THU MAY 15 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 400 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN SOUTHWEST ALABAMA ...MOBILE COUNTY AT 310 PM CDT MOBILE DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM JUST WEST OF BIG CREEK LAKE IN WEST-CENTRAL MOBILE COUNTY. THE STORM IS MOVING TO THE SOUTHEAST AT 20 MPH. LARGE HAIL AND GUSTY WINDS CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM. IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER FROM THE WEATHER IN A STRONG BUILDING. DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN... AND DEADLY LIGHTNING ARE ALL POSSIBLE IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. STAY INSIDE AWAY FROM WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Mobile, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 15, 3:32 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Baldwin | 58 min |
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.