Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 21, NWS Mobile, AL

April 22, 1997Wilcox County, Alabama

NWS Mobile, AL issued this tornado warning at Apr 22, 1997, 5:31 PM CDT for Wilcox County, Alabama. It was in force for 59 min. 2 reports 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: Apr 22, 1997, 5:31 PM CDT (22:31 UTC)
Expired: Apr 22, 1997, 6:30 PM CDT
In force: 59 min
Issued by: NWS Mobile, AL
Area: Whole counties

County Wilcox County, AL

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Apr 22, 6:15 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 50	Pine Hill, AL	Several trees were blown down along State Highway 10 between Pine Hill and Yellow Bluff.
Apr 22, 6:15 PM CDT	Hail 1.75	Pine Hill, AL	Golfball size hail was reported along State Highway 10 between Pine Hill and Yellow Bluff. This same area also experienced high winds.

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 watch it was issued in

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

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Apr 22, 1:30 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	8 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 10.5 hours before the alert went out and 141 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 1576 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -52 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 667 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 117 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 216 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 6.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMOB 222231 RRA
TORMOB
ALC131-222330-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
531 PM CDT TUE APR 22 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  630 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTH ALABAMA
 
   ...WILCOX COUNTY
 
NATIONAL WEATHER DOPPLER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO OVER NORTHERN
CLARKE COUNTY MOVING TOWARD WILCOX COUNTY. THIS STORM WILL BE AFFECTING
THE PINE HILL AND YELLOW BLUFF COMMUNITIES AND POINTS SOUTH THROUGH 630
PM. MOVEMENT WAS TO THE EAST AT 45 MPH.
 
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITUR6E.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 22, 2:07 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Choctaw	68 min
Apr 22, 2:30 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Clarke, Wilcox	60 min
Apr 22, 3:10 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Washington	65 min
Apr 22, 3:42 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Wilcox	63 min
Apr 22, 4:19 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Choctaw	56 min
Apr 22, 4:54 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MOB	Choctaw	36 min
Apr 22, 5:04 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Clarke	56 min
Apr 22, 5:19 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MOB	Clarke	41 min
Apr 22, 5:42 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Choctaw	63 min
Apr 22, 6:23 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Washington	67 min
Apr 22, 6:39 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Clarke	66 min
Apr 22, 6:48 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Monroe	57 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Alabama, 1997 Every tornado warning in 1997 Tornadoes 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.