Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Watches in 1997

Tornado Watch 16

January 15, 19974 states

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Jan 15, 1997, 5:30 PM CST for 4 states. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Jan 15, 1997, 5:30 PM CST (23:30 UTC)
Expired: Jan 15, 1997, 11:00 PM CST
In force: 6 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 21 counties

Baldwin County, AL, Butler County, AL, Conecuh County, AL, Covington County, AL, Crenshaw County, AL, Escambia County, AL, Mobile County, AL, Monroe County, AL, Washington County, AL, Escambia County, FL, Okaloosa County, FL, Santa Rosa County, FL, Walton County, FL, Saint Bernard Parish, LA, George County, MS, Greene County, MS, Hancock County, MS, Harrison County, MS, Jackson County, MS, Perry County, MS, Stone County, MS

The radar

The Mobile radar (KMOB), 16 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:32 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.

Warnings issued inside it

14 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jan 15, 5:54 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Monroe	51 min
Jan 15, 6:04 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Conecuh	56 min
Jan 15, 6:18 PM CST	Tornado Warning	MOB	Butler, Conecuh	57 min
Jan 15, 6:41 PM CST	Tornado Warning	MOB	Washington	64 min
Jan 15, 6:52 PM CST	Tornado Warning	MOB	Crenshaw	68 min
Jan 15, 7:08 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Clarke, Monroe	67 min
Jan 15, 8:18 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Baldwin	57 min
Jan 15, 9:16 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Escambia	44 min
Jan 15, 9:36 PM CST	Tornado Warning	MOB	Santa Rosa	69 min
Jan 15, 9:41 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Okaloosa	64 min
Jan 15, 10:08 PM CST	Tornado Warning	MOB	Covington	67 min
Jan 15, 10:08 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TAE	Walton	67 min
Jan 15, 10:13 PM CST	Tornado Warning	MOB	Okaloosa	47 min
Jan 15, 10:28 PM CST	Tornado Warning	TAE	Walton	47 min

The nearest sounding before it

Eglin AFB/Valpar, FL (KVPS), launched 12:00Z, 11.5 hours before the alert went out and 161 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 1219 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 155 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 236 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.

619 
WWUS9 KMKC 152300
SEL6  
MKC WW 152300
ALZ000-MSZ000-FLZ000-160500-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 16
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KANSAS CITY MO
500 PM CST WED JAN 15 1997

A...THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR

   PARTS OF SOUTHERN ALABAMA                            
   PARTS OF SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI                        
   PARTS OF WESTERN FLORIDA PANHANDLE                            
   AND ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS

EFFECTIVE THIS WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING UNTIL 1100 PM CST.

TORNADOES...LARGE HAIL...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND DAMAGING
THUNDERSTORM WINDS ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.


THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 60 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND
SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 30 MILES WEST SOUTHWEST OF GULFPORT
MISSISSIPPI TO 40 MILES NORTHEAST OF CRESTVIEW FLORIDA.

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. 
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.
$$

C...TORNADOES AND A FEW SVR TSTMS WITH HAIL SFC AND ALF TO 1 3/4
INCHES.  EXTRM TURBC AND SFC WIND GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS.  A FEW CBS
WITH MAX TOPS TO 450.  MEAN WIND VECTOR 24035.

D...WIND PROFILES ARE VERY FVRBL FOR ROTG STMS ALG AND AHD OF SQLN
MOVG THRU CNTRL GULF CST STS.  AMS SUFLY UNSTBL TO SUPPORT DEEP
CNVCTN AND ISOLD TORNADOS ALG AND AHD OF LN.


E...OTR TSTMS...  CONT..WW 15..

...HALES

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jan 15, 3:00 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Ascension, Assumption, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Jefferson, Lafourche and 13 more	5 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Alabama, 1997 Tornado Watches in Mississippi, 1997 Tornado Watches in Florida, 1997 Every tornado watch 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.