Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Watches in 1997

Tornado Watch 89

March 2, 199726 counties in Alabama; 15 counties in Mississippi

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Mar 2, 1997, 10:00 PM CST for 26 counties in Alabama; 15 counties in Mississippi. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Mar 2, 1997, 10:00 PM CST (04:00 UTC)
Expired: Mar 3, 1997, 4:00 AM CST
In force: 6 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 41 counties

Autauga County, AL, Bibb County, AL, Blount County, AL, Chilton County, AL, Choctaw County, AL, Clarke County, AL, Coosa County, AL, Dallas County, AL, Elmore County, AL, Fayette County, AL, Greene County, AL, Hale County, AL, Jefferson County, AL, Lamar County, AL, Lowndes County, AL, Marengo County, AL, Montgomery County, AL, Perry County, AL, Pickens County, AL, Shelby County, AL, St. Clair County, AL, Sumter County, AL, Talladega County, AL, Tuscaloosa County, AL, Walker County, AL, Wilcox County, AL, Choctaw County, MS, Clarke County, MS, Clay County, MS, Jasper County, MS, Jones County, MS, Kemper County, MS, Lauderdale County, MS, Lowndes County, MS, Neshoba County, MS, Newton County, MS, Noxubee County, MS, Oktibbeha County, MS, Wayne County, MS, Webster County, MS, Winston County, MS

Warnings issued inside it

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 2, 11:55 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Lamar	50 min
Mar 3, 12:29 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Fayette	61 min
Mar 3, 1:02 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Walker	58 min
Mar 3, 2:46 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Blount	44 min
Mar 3, 3:50 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Coosa, Elmore	40 min

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 4.0 hours before the alert went out and 127 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: 18 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -90 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 588 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 70 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 323 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 420 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

887 
WWUS9 KMKC 030345
SEL9  
MKC WW 030345
MSZ000-ALZ000-031000-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 89
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
945 PM CST SUN MAR 2 1997

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

   PARTS OF EASTERN MISSISSIPPI                        
   A LARGE PART OF CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ALABAMA                   
        
EFFECTIVE THIS SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY MORNING UNTIL 400 AM CST.

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


THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 80 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND
SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 45 MILES WEST NORTHWEST OF MERIDIAN
MISSISSIPPI TO 50 MILES SOUTHEAST OF BIRMINGHAM 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 3/4
INCHES.  EXTRM TURBC AND SFC WIND GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS.  A FEW CBS
WITH MAX TOPS TO 450.  MEAN WIND VECTOR 23045.

D...VRY STG VERT SHEAR WL CONT TO SPRD E ACRS PTNS OF THE CNTRL
GULF CST STATES TNGT AS 75 KT LA SPD MAX CONTS NEWD.  POTENTIAL FOR
SUPERCELLS WL EXIST AS MIDLVL COOLG ALG AND N OF JET DSBTLZS AMS
ALG AND JUST S OF QSTNRY BNDRY FM NR MEI TO BHM.       

E...OTR TSTMS...  CONT..WW 87..WW 88..

...CORFIDI

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 2, 11:45 PM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	Blount, Cherokee, Colbert, Cullman, DeKalb, Etowah and 10 more	5 hr
Mar 3, 4:00 AM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	Calhoun, Chambers, Cherokee, Clay, Cleburne, Elmore and 4 more	5 hr
Mar 2, 9:45 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Alcorn, Benton, Calhoun, Chickasaw, Coahoma, DeSoto and 17 more	5 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Alabama, 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.