A small tornado that apparently formed on the north side of a bow echo touched down in a lightly populated area just north of Lake Lurleen State Park and just west of State Road 171 in west central Tuscaloosa County. Damage was primarily to downed trees, however, several structures sustained minor damage with the exception of one house that was completely deroofed.
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Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS BMX wrote it up.
A small tornado that apparently formed on the north side of a bow echo touched down in a lightly populated area just north of Lake Lurleen State Park and just west of State Road 171 in west central Tuscaloosa County. Damage was primarily to downed trees, however, several structures sustained minor damage with the exception of one house that was completely deroofed. The family in the house was asleep when the tornado struck and one young girl sustained a minor injury in the storm.EMA officials reported that three mobile homes were damaged along with the one house that was deroofed and at least two barns and several storage buildings were damaged.
The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 88 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 06:08 UTC.
1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Alabama in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Alabama, 1997Warnings in Alabama, January 1997
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5588192.