Alert archive / Mississippi / Tornado Warnings in 1986

Tornado Warning 10, NWS Jackson, MS

March 18, 1986Holmes County, Mississippi

NWS Jackson, MS issued this tornado warning at Mar 18, 1986, 4:23 PM CST for Holmes County, Mississippi. It was in force for 37 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
Mar 18, 1986, 4:23 PM CST (22:23 UTC)
Expired
Mar 18, 1986, 5:00 PM CST
In force
37 min
Issued by
NWS Jackson, MS
Area
Whole counties

County Holmes County, MS

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Mar 18, 4:30 PM CSTTornado F0Holmes, MS

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. Storm Data before 1996 records only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail.

The nearest sounding before it

Jackson, MS (KJAN), launched 12:00Z, 10.4 hours before the alert went out and 89 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Jackson, MS at 12:00Z on 1986-03-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Jackson, MS at 12:00Z on 1986-03-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 354 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
1088 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
59 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
354 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
450 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KJAN 182223
TORJAN
MSC051-182300-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS
423 PM CST TUE MAR 18 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 500 PM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF

CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI...HOLMES

AT 420 PM CST JACKSON RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO NEAR
LEXINGTON. THE STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

 IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO..GO TO A BASEMENT OR A
 CENTRAL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE
 HOMES FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING.
 STRONG WINDS AND LARGE HAIL HAVE ALREADY BEEN REPORTED WITH THIS
 STORM. PEOPLE IN ITS PATCH SHOULD BE PREPARED TO TAKE QUICK ACTION
 IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Mar 18, 3:49 PM CST, 34 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MERIDIAN MS
350 PM CST TUE MAR 18 1986

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NR 47 WHICH INCLUDES WINSTON..NESHOBA..
JASPER AND NEWTON COUNTIES IN EAST CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI REMAINS IN
EFFECT UNTIL 900 PM CST.

AT 330 PM CST RADAR SHOWED NO THUNDERSTORMS IN EITHER EAST CENTRAL
MISSISSIPPI OR EXTREME WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA. HOWEVER THERE ARE
NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS ..SOME SEVERE..IN WEST MISSISSIPPI. THIS
AREA OF THUNDERSTORMS IS MOVING EASTWARD. PRESENT INDICATIONS ARE
THAT THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE MOVING INTO EAST CENTRAL
MISSISSIPPI LATER THIS AFTERNOON OR EARLY THIS EVENING.

PERSONS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA IN EAST CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI
SHOULD BEGIN NOW TO PREPARE FOR POSSIBLE SEVERE WEATHER.

                                                                             [

                                                                             [
Special weather statement, Mar 18, 3:55 PM CST, 28 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS
355 PM CST TUE MAR 18 196

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH CONTINUES IN
EFFECT UNTIL 9PM FOR MOST OF NORTHWEST MISSISSIPPI.

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING THAT WAS IN EFFECT UNTIL 415 PM
FOR SHARKEY COUNTY HAS BEEN CANCELLED. THE STORM HAS NOW MOVED INTO
WESTERN YAZOO COUNTY AND APPEARS TO BE BELOW SEVERE LIMITS.

RADAR CONTINUED TO SHOW A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING THROUGH
WESTE&RN MISSISSIPPI. THE LINE STRETCHED FROM BELZONI TO VICKSBURG
TO NEAR NATCHEZ. THE LINE WAS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

PEOPLE IN COUNTIES JUST TO THE EAST OF THE LINE SHOULD KEEP AN EYE OUT
FOR STRONG WINDS AS THESE THUNDERSTORMS PASS.
Special weather statement, Mar 18, 4:20 PM CST, 3 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUPELO MS
420 PM CST TUE MAR 18 1986

  ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NO.47 IN EFFECT FOR NORTHEAST
     MISSISSIPPI UNTIL 9 PM CST...

AT 415 PM CST...TUPELO NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED
SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WERE OCCURING FROM EAST OF WATER VALLEY TO
SOUTHWEST OF BLUE MOUNTAIN.  NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS WERE ALSO OCCURING
FROM NORTH OF YAZOO CITY TO NORTHWEST OF GRANADA.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 40 MILES AN HOUR.

THIS AREA OF THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY HAS A PAST HISTORY OF CAUSING PEA
SIZE HAIL
HEAVY RAINS AND HIGH WINDS. ANYONE LIVING IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THESE
THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR LOCALLY HEAVY
RAINS...FREQUENT DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...DAMAGING WINDS AND POSSIBLE
HAIL.

THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY WILL CONTINUE THROUGH TONIGHT AND TOMORROW
MORNING. PERSONS IN NORTHEAST MISSISSIPPI SHOULD REMAIN WEATHER ALERT
AND STAY TUNED TFO LOCAL TELEVISION AND RADIO AND THE WEATHER RADIO FOR
CONTINUED IMFORMATION.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Jackson, MS issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 18, 2:31 PM CSTTornado WarningJANCarroll, Holmes59 min
Mar 18, 2:31 PM CSTTornado WarningJANYazoo59 min
Mar 18, 2:35 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANSunflower55 min
Mar 18, 3:10 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANSharkey65 min
Mar 18, 5:32 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANHinds, Rankin58 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Mississippi, 1986Every tornado warning in 1986Tornadoes in 1986

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.