Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 274, NWS Mobile, AL

November 21, 1997Clarke County, Wilcox County, Alabama

NWS Mobile, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Nov 21, 1997, 3:30 PM CST for Clarke County, Wilcox County, Alabama. It was in force for 60 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
Nov 21, 1997, 3:30 PM CST (21:30 UTC)
Expired
Nov 21, 1997, 4:30 PM CST
In force
60 min
Issued by
NWS Mobile, AL
Area
Whole counties

Counties Clarke County, AL, Wilcox County, AL

The radar

The Mobile radar (KMOB), 143 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:31 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.

The watch it was issued in

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

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Nov 21, 2:30 PM CSTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 9.5 hours before the alert went out and 167 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 1997-11-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1 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, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 1997-11-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 293 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
1 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-66 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
632 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
58 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
293 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
335 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 212129 RRA
SVRMOB
ALC131-025-212230-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
330 PM CST FRI NOV 21 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  430 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTH ALABAMA
 
   ...WILCOX COUNTY
 
IN SOUTHWEST ALABAMA
 
   ...CLARKE COUNTY
 
AT 330 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR IN MOBILE INDICATED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER NORTHEAST CLARK COUNTY NEAR THOMASVILLE MOVING
EAST NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.
 
THIS STORM WILL BE MOVING INTO SOUTHWEST WILCOX COUNTY NEAR THE AREAS
OF KIMBROUGH...YELLOW BLUFF AND HYBART DURING THE NEXT HOUR.d
 
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.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Nov 21, 4:08 PM CSTTornado WarningMOBClarke52 min
Nov 21, 4:20 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBMonroe55 min
Nov 21, 4:29 PM CSTTornado WarningMOBMobile61 min
Nov 21, 4:47 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBWilcox58 min
Nov 21, 5:06 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBButler69 min
Nov 21, 5:27 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBCrenshaw63 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.