Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 285, NWS Mobile, AL

December 24, 1997Mobile County, Alabama

NWS Mobile, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Dec 24, 1997, 4:42 AM CST for Mobile County, Alabama. It was in force for 33 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
Dec 24, 1997, 4:42 AM CST (10:42 UTC)
Expired
Dec 24, 1997, 5:15 AM CST
In force
33 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 10:43 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
Dec 24, 4:45 AM CSTThunderstorm Wind 50Semmes, ALSeveral large limbs were blown down near the intersection of Howells Ferry and Snow roads just south of Semmes.

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 00:00Z, 10.7 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 00:00Z on 1997-12-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Slidell Radar S, LA at 00:00Z on 1997-12-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 383 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
481 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
383 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
469 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMOB 241042 RRA
SVRMOB
ALC097-241115-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
442 AM CST WED DEC 24 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  515 AM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHWEST ALABAMA
 
   ...MOBILE COUNTY
 
AT 440 AM CST MOBILE DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM JUST
SOUTHWEST OF CITRONELLE. THE STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST IN EXCESS OF 40
MPH. DAMAGING WIND GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 50 MPH ARE POSSIBLE WITH THIS
STORM.
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
FOR YO&UR 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
Dec 24, 5:34 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBMonroe41 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.