Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Watches in 1997

Tornado Watch 26

January 24, 199726 counties in Alabama; 6 counties in Florida

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Jan 24, 1997, 6:45 AM CST for 26 counties in Alabama; 6 counties in Florida. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Jan 24, 1997, 6:45 AM CST (12:45 UTC)
Expired: Jan 24, 1997, 12:00 PM CST
In force: 5 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 32 counties

Autauga County, AL, Baldwin County, AL, Barbour County, AL, Bullock County, AL, Butler County, AL, Coffee County, AL, Conecuh County, AL, Covington County, AL, Crenshaw County, AL, Dale County, AL, Dallas County, AL, Elmore County, AL, Escambia County, AL, Geneva County, AL, Hale County, AL, Henry County, AL, Houston County, AL, Lee County, AL, Lowndes County, AL, Macon County, AL, Monroe County, AL, Montgomery County, AL, Perry County, AL, Pike County, AL, Russell County, AL, Wilcox County, AL, Escambia County, FL, Holmes County, FL, Okaloosa County, FL, Santa Rosa County, FL, Walton County, FL, Washington County, FL

Warnings issued inside it

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jan 24, 6:51 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Wilcox	54 min
Jan 24, 6:52 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Autauga, Lowndes	53 min
Jan 24, 7:05 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Conecuh	55 min
Jan 24, 7:10 AM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Autauga	35 min
Jan 24, 7:24 AM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Elmore, Montgomery	51 min
Jan 24, 7:50 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Covington	55 min
Jan 24, 8:02 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Macon	58 min
Jan 24, 8:11 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Crenshaw	64 min
Jan 24, 8:15 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Montgomery	30 min
Jan 24, 8:18 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Bullock	57 min
Jan 24, 8:21 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TAE	Coffee	69 min
Jan 24, 8:22 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Baldwin	68 min
Jan 24, 8:26 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Pike	64 min
Jan 24, 8:29 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Lee	61 min
Jan 24, 8:46 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TAE	Dale	59 min
Jan 24, 8:58 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Macon	17 min
Jan 24, 9:01 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Barbour	59 min
Jan 24, 9:04 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Russell	56 min
Jan 24, 9:20 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Escambia	55 min
Jan 24, 9:25 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Escambia	65 min
Jan 24, 11:00 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Okaloosa	45 min

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 0.8 hours before the alert went out and 211 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: 379 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -22 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 510 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 50 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 316 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 348 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 2.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

972 
WWUS9 KMKC 241215
SEL6  
MKC WW 241215
ALZ000-FLZ000-241800-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 26
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KANSAS CITY MO
615 AM CST FRI JAN 24 1997

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

   PARTS OF CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN ALABAMA                          
   PARTS OF NORTHWEST FLORIDA                            
   AND ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS

EFFECTIVE THIS FRIDAY MORNING UNTIL NOON CST.

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


THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 75 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 35 MILES SOUTH OF CRESTVIEW FLORIDA TO 35 MILES
NORTH OF MONTGOMERY ALABAMA.

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 1/2
INCHES.  EXTRM TURBC AND SFC WIND GUSTS TO 65 KNOTS.  A FEW CBS
WITH MAX TOPS TO 450.  MEAN WIND VECTOR 25035.

D...STG/SVR TSTMS HAVE BEGUN TO ORGANIZE INTO A WELL-DEFINED LN
ACRS SWRN AL WITH RADARS INDCG EMBDD SMALL SCALE LEWPS WITHIN THE
LN.  CNVTN IS IN RGN OF STG UPWARD MOTION AHD OF UPR SHRTWV TROF
MOVG ACRS LWR MS VLY.  VAD WINDS AND 12Z SNDGS CONFIRM MODEL TRENDS
OF STG LLJ AND WINDS VEERING WITH HGT OVR AL SUGG CONTD THREAT OF
SVR TSTMS AND PSBL SUPERCELLS.

E...OTR TSTMS...  CONT..WW 25..

...WEISS

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jan 24, 4:00 AM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	Baldwin, Mobile, Washington	6 hr
Jan 24, 3:30 PM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	Bibb, Blount, Colbert, Cullman, Fayette, Franklin and 16 more	7 hr
Jan 24, 4:45 PM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	Autauga, Baldwin, Barbour, Bibb, Blount, Bullock and 37 more	6 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Alabama, 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.