Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 209, NWS Mobile, AL

July 5, 1997Mobile County, Alabama

NWS Mobile, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 5, 1997, 12:43 PM CDT for Mobile County, Alabama. It was in force for 47 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
Jul 5, 1997, 12:43 PM CDT (17:43 UTC)
Expired
Jul 5, 1997, 1:30 PM CDT
In force
47 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 17:47 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.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jul 5, 1:00 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 50Cottage Hill, ALSeveral trees were blown down in the western part of Mobile county near Cottage Hill.

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, 5.7 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.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Slidell Radar S, LA at 12:00Z on 1997-07-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2651 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 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 12:00Z on 1997-07-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -22 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
2651 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-27 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1061 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
13 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-22 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-20 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 KMOB 051743 RRA
SVRMOB
ALC097-051830-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
1243 PM CDT SAT JUL 5 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  130 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHWEST ALABAMA
 
   ...MOBILE COUNTY
 
 
 
 
AT 1238 PM...NWS DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR IN MOBILE IINDICATED TWO
DEVELOPING SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. THE FIRST STORM WAS LOCATED NEAR 2
MILES SOUTHWEST OF CHUNCHULA. THE SECOND STROM WAS FORMING INTO A LINE
AND WAS LOCATED FROM GRAND BAY TO SOUTH MOBILE. THESE STORMS WERE MOVING
NORTHWEST AT 5 TO 10 MPH AND HAVE PRODUCED 45 TO 55 MPH WINDS AS
MEASURED BY RADAR. IT IS EXPECTED...THAT AS THESE STORMS DEVELOP FURTHER
WINDS GUSTS WILL EXCEED 60 MPH.
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS.  HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO
DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 5, 11:35 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBCovington40 min
Jul 5, 11:57 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBEscambia48 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.