Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1997
Tornado Warning 36, NWS Tallahassee, FL
NWS Tallahassee, FL issued this tornado warning at Dec 24, 1997, 6:59 AM CST for Houston County, Alabama. It was in force for 31 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.
The facts
- Issued
- Dec 24, 1997, 6:59 AM CST (12:59 UTC)
- Expired
- Dec 24, 1997, 7:30 AM CST
- In force
- 31 min
- Issued by
- NWS Tallahassee, FL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Houston County, AL
The radar
The Ft Rucker radar (KEOX), 37 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 13:03 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.
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 24, 7:17 AM CST | Tornado F2 | Wicksburg, AL | Tornado skipped through a mobile home park along County Road 9 and Market Street. Two mobile homes destroyed with more than a dozen damaged. Large power poles and trees toppled. Winds overturned small airplane off County Road 81 near Harmon School. A large |
NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in.
The nearest sounding before it
Tallahassee Rgnl, FL (KTLH), launched 12:00Z, 1.0 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 257 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -3 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 517 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 45 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 236 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 355 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.3
- Supercell composite
- 1.9
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
617 WFUS1 KTLH 241302 RRA TORTLH ALC069-241330- BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TALLAHASSEE FL 659 AM CST WED DEC 24 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TALLAHASSEE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 830 AM EST (730 AM CST) FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN SOUTHEAST ALABAMA ...HOUSTON COUNTY AT 655 AM CST WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO 5 MILES NORTH OF HARTFORD IN GENEVA COUNTY. THIS STORM WAS MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH...AND WILL MOVE INTO THE EXTREME NORTHWESTERN PART OF HOUSTON COUNTY NEAR WICKSBURG BETWEEN 700 AM AND 705 AM CST. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS UNDER STURDY FURNITURE IN AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. USE PILLOWS TO COVER YOUR BODY. AVOID WINDOWS. A MOBILE HOME IS NOT A SAFE REFUGE FROM A TORNADO. MOVE TO A MORE SUBSTANTIAL BUILDING.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Tallahassee, FL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 24, 6:12 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE | Geneva | 63 min |
| Dec 24, 6:20 AM CST | Tornado Warning | TAE | Geneva | 40 min |
| Dec 24, 7:19 AM CST | Tornado Warning | TAE | Dale, Henry | 41 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Alabama, 1997Every tornado warning in 1997Tornadoes 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.