Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 19, NWS Mobile, AL

January 15, 1997Baldwin County, Alabama

NWS Mobile, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jan 15, 1997, 8:18 PM CST for Baldwin County, Alabama. It was in force for 57 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
Jan 15, 1997, 8:18 PM CST (02:18 UTC)
Expired
Jan 15, 1997, 9:15 PM CST
In force
57 min
Issued by
NWS Mobile, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Baldwin County, AL

The radar

The Mobile radar (KMOB), 47 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:22 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
Jan 15, 8:55 PM CSTThunderstorm Wind 52Magnolia Spgs, AL

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
Jan 15, 5:30 PM CSTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Slidell Radar S, LA (KSIL), launched 00:00Z, 2.3 hours before the alert went out and 192 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, Slidell Radar S, LA at 00:00Z on 1997-01-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 548 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Slidell Radar S, LA at 00:00Z on 1997-01-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 309 square meters per square second.1939587897117136156Sfc1 km3 km6 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
548 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-5 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
582 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
55 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
309 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
388 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.8
Supercell composite
3.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMOB 160219 RRA
SVRMOB
ALC003-160315-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
818 PM CST WED JAN 15 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  915 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHWEST ALABAMA
 
   ...BALDWIN COUNTY
 
 
 
 
AT 818 PM...NWS DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR IN MOBILE INDICATED A LINE OF
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS MOVING THROUGH BALDWIN COUNTY. WINDS ALONG THIS
LINE WILL EXCEED 60 MPH LOCALLY AS IT PASSES FROM NORTHWEST TO SOUTHEAST
ACROSS THE ENTIRE COUNTY DURING THE NEXT HOUR. THE LINE WAS MOVING
SOUTHEAST AT 40 MPH.
 
A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR TNHE WARNED AREA.  REMEMBER
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES
WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING.  REMAIN CALM BUT BE ALERT TO
RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 15, 6:04 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBConecuh56 min
Jan 15, 6:14 PM CSTTornado WarningMOBChoctaw61 min
Jan 15, 6:18 PM CSTTornado WarningMOBButler, Conecuh57 min
Jan 15, 6:41 PM CSTTornado WarningMOBWashington64 min
Jan 15, 6:52 PM CSTTornado WarningMOBCrenshaw68 min
Jan 15, 7:08 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBClarke, Monroe67 min
Jan 15, 9:16 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBEscambia44 min
Jan 15, 10:08 PM CSTTornado WarningMOBCovington67 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.