Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Watches in 1997

Tornado Watch 793

November 21, 199726 counties in Alabama; 4 counties in Florida; George County, Jackson County, Mississippi

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Nov 21, 1997, 2:30 PM CST for 26 counties in Alabama; 4 counties in Florida; George County, Jackson County, Mississippi. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Nov 21, 1997, 2:30 PM CST (20:30 UTC)
Expired: Nov 21, 1997, 8:00 PM CST
In force: 6 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, Clarke County, AL, Coffee County, AL, Conecuh County, AL, Covington County, AL, Crenshaw County, AL, Dallas County, AL, Elmore County, AL, Escambia County, AL, Geneva County, AL, Hale County, AL, Lee County, AL, Lowndes County, AL, Macon County, AL, Marengo County, AL, Mobile County, AL, Monroe County, AL, Montgomery County, AL, Perry County, AL, Pike County, AL, Washington County, AL, Wilcox County, AL, Escambia County, FL, Okaloosa County, FL, Santa Rosa County, FL, Walton County, FL, George County, MS, Jackson County, MS

The radar

The Mobile radar (KMOB), 84 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:33 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

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Nov 21, 3:30 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Clarke, Wilcox	60 min
Nov 21, 3:46 PM CST	Tornado Warning	LIX	Harrison, Jackson	44 min
Nov 21, 4:03 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	George	57 min
Nov 21, 4:08 PM CST	Tornado Warning	MOB	Clarke	52 min
Nov 21, 4:20 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Monroe	55 min
Nov 21, 4:29 PM CST	Tornado Warning	MOB	Mobile	61 min
Nov 21, 4:38 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LIX	Jackson	52 min
Nov 21, 4:47 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Wilcox	58 min
Nov 21, 5:05 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Lowndes	35 min
Nov 21, 5:06 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Butler	69 min
Nov 21, 5:27 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Crenshaw	63 min
Nov 21, 5:39 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Montgomery	31 min
Nov 21, 5:49 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Pike	31 min
Nov 21, 5:54 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Bullock, Macon	46 min
Nov 21, 6:36 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Barbour, Russell	49 min
Nov 21, 6:46 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Lee	34 min
Nov 21, 7:08 PM CST	Tornado Warning	MOB	Mobile	52 min
Nov 21, 7:23 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Baldwin, Escambia	67 min
Nov 21, 7:26 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Barbour	34 min

The nearest sounding before it

Eglin AFB/Valpar, FL (KVPS), launched 12:00Z, 8.5 hours before the alert went out and 119 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: 76 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -7 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 631 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 47 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 116 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 133 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

952 
WWUS9 KMKC 211955
SEL3  
MKC WW 211955
ALZ000-FLZ000-MSZ000-220200-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 793
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
155 PM CST FRI NOV 21 1997

THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF

   SOUTHERN ALABAMA                            
   THE WESTERN PANHANDLE OF FLORIDA                            
   EXTREME SOUTHEASTERN MISSISSIPPI                        
   AND ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS

EFFECTIVE THIS FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 230 PM UNTIL 800
PM CST.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 1 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 85 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 50 MILES SOUTHWEST OF PENSACOLA 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.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...  CONTINUE...WW 792...

DISCUSSION...CLUSTER OF THUNDERSTORMS WILL ADVANCE INTO WATCH AREA
AHEAD OF STRONG UPPER SHORT WAVE. 70 KT MID LEVEL FLOW LOCATED
ABOVE 40 KT LOW LEVEL JET IN AREA OF MODERATE INSTABILITY
INDICATING POTENTIAL FOR TORNADIC SUPERCELLS. 


AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 1 INCHES.  EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS.  A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 450. 
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24040.


...ROGASH

295,0891 324,0875 324,0845 295,0862

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Nov 21, 11:15 AM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	Adams, Amite, Forrest, Franklin, Greene, Hancock and 12 more	6 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Alabama, 1997 Tornado Watches in Florida, 1997 Tornado Watches in Mississippi, 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.