Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1997
Tornado Warning 31, NWS Mobile, AL
NWS Mobile, AL issued this tornado warning at Oct 25, 1997, 1:20 PM CDT for Butler County, Alabama. It was in force for 40 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
- Oct 25, 1997, 1:20 PM CDT (18:20 UTC)
- Expired
- Oct 25, 1997, 2:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 40 min
- Issued by
- NWS Mobile, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Butler County, AL
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 25, 1:30 PM CDT | Tornado F0 | Greenville, AL | An F0 tornado touched down about five miles northwest of Greenville along State Road 185. The tornado began about a mile west of State Road 185 and moved toward 185 then went back into the cloud near State road 185. The weak tornado skipped along the ground |
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
Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 6.3 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.
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
430 WFUS1 KMOB 251822 RRA TORMOB ALC013-251900- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL 120 PM CDT SAT OCT 25 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 200 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN SOUTH ALABAMA ...NORTHERN BUTLER COUNTY AT 118 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADARS INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO OVER NORTHEASTERN BUTLER COUNTY TO THE NORTHEAST OF GREENVILE. MOVEMENT WAS TOWARD THE NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH. THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION. ACT QUICKLY. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF AVAILABLE. OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR POSSIBLE. AVOID WINDOWS. ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Mobile, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 25, 9:19 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Clarke | 56 min |
| Oct 25, 11:42 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Wilcox | 63 min |
| Oct 25, 1:29 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MOB | Crenshaw | 61 min |
| Oct 25, 3:27 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Butler, Crenshaw | 63 min |
| Oct 25, 3:38 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MOB | Choctaw | 67 min |
| Oct 25, 4:30 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Clarke | 60 min |
| Oct 25, 5:19 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Wilcox | 56 min |
| Oct 25, 5:36 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MOB | Mobile | 69 min |
| Oct 25, 6:24 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Wilcox | 51 min |
| Oct 25, 6:27 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MOB | Baldwin | 63 min |
| Oct 25, 6:39 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MOB | Mobile | 36 min |
| Oct 25, 6:50 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Butler | 40 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Alabama, 1997Every tornado warning in 1997Tornadoes 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.