Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 221, NWS Mobile, AL

August 20, 1997Baldwin County, Alabama

NWS Mobile, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 20, 1997, 5:20 PM CDT for Baldwin County, Alabama. It was in force for 45 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
Aug 20, 1997, 5:20 PM CDT (22:20 UTC)
Expired
Aug 20, 1997, 6:05 PM CDT
In force
45 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 22:23 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
Aug 20, 5:45 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 50Loxley, ALSeveral trees and power lines were blown down near Loxley.

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

Eglin AFB/Valpar, FL (KVPS), launched 12:00Z, 10.3 hours before the alert went out and 121 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, Eglin AFB/Valpar, FL at 12:00Z on 1997-08-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2833 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Eglin AFB/Valpar, FL at 12:00Z on 1997-08-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 12 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
2833 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-10 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
725 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
15 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
12 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
28 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 202221 RRA
SVRMOB
ALC003-202305-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
520 PM CDT WED AUG 20 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE AL HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 605 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN SOUTHWESTERN ALABAMA

   ...BALDWIN
 
AT 518 PM CDT...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS INDICATED BY WEATHER
RADAR 4 MILES WEST OF LOXLEY MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 10 MPH.

SOME LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM ARE...
LOXLEY                      AROUND 532 PM CDT
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE... SEEK REFUGE FROM THE STORM IN A
STRONG BUILDING. BOATERS ON AREA LAKES SHOULD TAKE SHELTER.
DAMAGING WIND.|.. LARGE HAIL... VERY HEAVY RAIN... AND DANGEROUS
LIGHTNING ARE ALL LIKELY. DO NOT SEEK SHELTER UNDER TREES OR OTHER
ISOLATED TALL OBJECTS. THESE ATTRACT LIGHTNING. DO NOT DRIVE INTO
AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.

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.