Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 43, NWS Mobile, AL

October 26, 1997Washington County, Alabama

NWS Mobile, AL issued this tornado warning at Oct 26, 1997, 12:55 AM CDT for Washington County, Alabama. It was in force for 35 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 26, 1997, 12:55 AM CDT (05:55 UTC)
Expired
Oct 26, 1997, 1:30 AM CDT
In force
35 min
Issued by
NWS Mobile, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Washington County, AL

The radar

The Mobile radar (KMOB), 81 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 05:54 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 nearest sounding before it

Slidell Radar S, LA (KSIL), launched 00:00Z, 5.9 hours before the alert went out and 192 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 1997-10-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3980 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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 1997-10-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 191 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
3980 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
525 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
191 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
232 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
5.6
Supercell composite
22.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMOB 260558 RRA
TORMOB
ALC129-260630-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
1255 AM CDT SUN OCT 26 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  130 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHWEST ALABAMA
 
   ...WASHINGTON COUNTY
 
AT 1255 AM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICERADAR INDICATED A TORNADO OVER
SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON COUNTY NEAR SIMS CHAPEL MOVING TO NEAR MCINTOSH.
 
MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTHEAST AT 35 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.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 25, 7:35 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBEscambia40 min
Oct 25, 7:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBConecuh62 min
Oct 26, 1:37 AM CDTTornado WarningMOBClarke68 min
Oct 26, 2:15 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBWilcox30 min
Oct 26, 2:35 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBWashington55 min
Oct 26, 3:07 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBCrenshaw38 min
Oct 26, 5:14 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBMonroe, Wilcox2 hr

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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.