Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 246, NWS Mobile, AL

October 25, 1997Butler County, Alabama

NWS Mobile, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Oct 25, 1997, 6:50 PM CDT for Butler County, Alabama. It was in force for 40 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Oct 25, 1997, 6:50 PM CDT (23:50 UTC)
Expired
Oct 25, 1997, 7:30 PM CDT
In force
40 min
Issued by
NWS Mobile, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Butler County, AL

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Oct 25, 1:30 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC7 hr
Oct 25, 3:45 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 11.8 hours before the alert went out and 159 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, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 1997-10-25Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1546 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, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 1997-10-25The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 119 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
1546 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-6 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
507 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
45 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
119 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
191 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.9
Supercell composite
4.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

399 
WUUS1 KMOB 252354 RRA
SVRMOB
ALC013-260030-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
ISSUED BY BIRMINGHAM AL
650 PM CDT SAT OCT 25 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  730 PM CDT
 
IN SOUTH ALABAMA
 
   ...NORTHERN BUTLER COUNTY
 
AT 650 PM A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING INTO NORTHWEST BUTLER COUNTY
NEAR MONTEREY AND RIDGEVILLE. IT WAS MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH.
 
 
A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THE 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.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Mobile, AL wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Oct 25, 3:00 PM CDT, 3 hours 50 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 25, 3:00 PM CDT, 3 hours 50 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
255 PM CDT SAT OCT 25 1997

NOT A LOT OF TIME TO LOOK AT DATA TODAY WITH STRONG/SEVERE TSTMS AND
TOR # 767. STRONGEST STORMS TODAY HAVE BEEN OVER EASTERN PART OF CWA
IN PART DUE TO RRQ OF EXITING JET MAX. MODEL DATA INDICATES
ADDITIONAL POSSIBILITY OF SEVERE STORMS LATE TONIGHT AND
TOMORROW...WITH STRONGEST DYNAMICS WEST OF MOB CWA...BUT SEVERE
STORMS STILL A GOOD BET OVER CWA. SFC FRONT PROGGED TO MOVE ACROSS
FCST AREA DURING THE DAY ON SUNDAY...ENDING SEVERE THREAT FROM WEST
TO EAST. TEMPS TO COOL ONCE AGAIN LATE IN THE PERIOD AFTER FROPA.
STILL WILL POSSIBLY SEE AREAS OF LATE NIGHT FOG...MAINLY OUTSIDE OF
RAIN AREAS.

OVER THE COASTAL WATERS...SCA'S WILL REMAIN IN EFFECT THROUGH PERIOD.
WINDS INITIALLY SOUTH AT 20 KNOTS AND GUSTY...SHIFTING WESTERLY ON
SUNDAY AND NWRLY BY LATE SUNDAY. SEAS REMAINING AROUND 6-8 FEET
THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT...ROUGH ON PROTECTED WATERS.

MOB 68/76/55/64 6753  PNS 72/78/58/60 6753
DTS 71/79/60/67 6753  EVR 65/77/50/60 7753 12

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 25, 9:19 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBClarke56 min
Oct 25, 11:42 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBWilcox63 min
Oct 25, 1:20 PM CDTTornado WarningMOBButler40 min
Oct 25, 1:29 PM CDTTornado WarningMOBCrenshaw61 min
Oct 25, 3:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBButler, Crenshaw63 min
Oct 25, 3:38 PM CDTTornado WarningMOBChoctaw67 min
Oct 25, 4:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBClarke60 min
Oct 25, 5:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBWilcox56 min
Oct 25, 5:36 PM CDTTornado WarningMOBMobile69 min
Oct 25, 6:24 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBWilcox51 min
Oct 25, 6:27 PM CDTTornado WarningMOBBaldwin63 min
Oct 25, 6:39 PM CDTTornado WarningMOBMobile36 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.