Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Watches in 1997

Tornado Watch 90

March 2, 199716 counties in Alabama; Chattooga County, Dade County, Georgia; 9 counties in Tennessee

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Mar 2, 1997, 11:45 PM CST for 16 counties in Alabama; Chattooga County, Dade County, Georgia; 9 counties in Tennessee. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Mar 2, 1997, 11:45 PM CST (05:45 UTC)
Expired: Mar 3, 1997, 5:00 AM CST
In force: 5 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 27 counties

Blount County, AL, Cherokee County, AL, Colbert County, AL, Cullman County, AL, DeKalb County, AL, Etowah County, AL, Franklin County, AL, Jackson County, AL, Lauderdale County, AL, Lawrence County, AL, Limestone County, AL, Madison County, AL, Marion County, AL, Marshall County, AL, Morgan County, AL, Winston County, AL, Chattooga County, GA, Dade County, GA, Franklin County, TN, Giles County, TN, Grundy County, TN, Lawrence County, TN, Lincoln County, TN, Marion County, TN, Moore County, TN, Sequatchie County, TN, Wayne County, TN

Warnings issued inside it

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 3, 12:05 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Marion	55 min
Mar 3, 12:45 AM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Colbert, Lauderdale, Lawrence	60 min
Mar 3, 12:45 AM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Franklin	60 min
Mar 3, 12:46 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Winston	59 min
Mar 3, 12:57 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Marion	18 min
Mar 3, 1:21 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Limestone	69 min
Mar 3, 1:41 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Lawrence, Morgan	64 min
Mar 3, 2:03 AM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Limestone	57 min
Mar 3, 2:11 AM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Madison, Morgan	64 min
Mar 3, 2:41 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Marshall	64 min
Mar 3, 2:46 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Blount	44 min
Mar 3, 2:59 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Etowah	46 min
Mar 3, 4:23 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Chattooga, Floyd	37 min

The nearest sounding before it

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 00:00Z, 5.8 hours before the alert went out and 148 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: 485 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 66 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 196 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.

327 
WWUS9 KMKC 030528
SEL0  
MKC WW 030528
TNZ000-ALZ000-031100-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 90
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1128 PM CST SUN MAR 2 1997

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

   PARTS OF SOUTHERN MIDDLE TENNESSEE                          
   PARTS OF NORTHERN ALABAMA                            

EFFECTIVE THIS SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY MORNING UNTIL 500 AM CST.

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


THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 55 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND
SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 30 MILES WEST OF MUSCLE SHOALS ALABAMA TO 60
MILES NORTHEAST OF GADSDEN 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.

B..OTHER WATCH INFORMATION.. THIS TORNADO WATCH REPLACES SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 88.  WATCH NUMBER 88 WILL NOT BE IN
EFFECT AFTER 1145 PM CST.
$$

C...TORNADOES AND A FEW SVR TSTMS WITH HAIL SFC AND ALF TO 1 3/4
INCHES.  EXTRM TURBC AND SFC WIND GUSTS TO 75 KNOTS.  A FEW CBS
WITH MAX TOPS TO 450.  MEAN WIND VECTOR 25050.

D...LN OF TSTMS MOVG RAPIDLY ENEWD JUST N OF E-W FNTL BDRY. SHEAR
PROFILES ARE VRY CONDUCIVE FOR ORGANIZED SVR CNVTN PRODUCING
DAMAGING WNDS AND PSBLY TORNADOES.

E...OTR TSTMS... THIS WATCH REPLACES..WW 88.. CONT..WW 89..

...VESCIO

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 2, 10:00 PM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	Autauga, Bibb, Blount, Chilton, Choctaw, Clarke and 20 more	6 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	Carroll, Chester, Crockett, Dyer, Fayette, Gibson and 13 more	5 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Alabama, 1997 Tornado Watches in Tennessee, 1997 Tornado Watches in Georgia, 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.