Alert archive / Mississippi / Tornado Warnings in 1986

Tornado Warning 11, NWS Memphis, TN

August 10, 1986Quitman County, Mississippi

NWS Memphis, TN issued this tornado warning at Aug 10, 1986, 3:28 PM CDT for Quitman County, Mississippi. It was in force for 32 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 10, 1986, 3:28 PM CDT (20:28 UTC)
Expired
Aug 10, 1986, 4:00 PM CDT
In force
32 min
Issued by
NWS Memphis, TN
Area
Whole counties

County Quitman County, MS

The radar

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

The nearest sounding before it

Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 12:00Z, 8.5 hours before the alert went out and 71 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, Little Rock, AR at 12:00Z on 1986-08-10Temperature 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, Little Rock, AR at 12:00Z on 1986-08-10The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 97 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
3627 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
97 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
104 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.

000 
TTAAOO KMEM 102028
TORMEM
MSC119-102100-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
328 PM CDT SUN AUG 10 1986
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL  400 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES:
 
IN NORTHWEST MISSISSIPPI
          ..SOUTHERN QUITMAN

A COAHOMA COUNTY SHERIFFS DEPUTY REPORTED A TORNADO IN EXTREME
SOUTHEASTERN COAHOMA COUNTY MOVING EAST. THE PARENT THUNDERSTORM
WAS MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH.
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO, THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE, SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS, PILLOWS, OR
CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.

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

Local storm report, Aug 10, 10:15 AM CDT, 5 hours 13 minutes before
LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUPELO MS
1015AM CDT SUN AUG 10 1986

 ...DELAYED STORM REPORT FOR AUGUST 8, 1986...

SHORTLY AFTER 300PM CDT...TREES DOWNED AT BIGBEE FORK WHICH IS LOCATED
                          ON THE MONROE-ITAWAMBA COUNTY LINE EAST OF
                          RT. 371. ACCORDING TO ITAWAMBA COUNTY
                          SHERIFF'S OFFICE, DOWNED TREES ARE LOCATED
                          ON THE ITAWAMBA COUNTY SIDE.
Special weather statement, Aug 10, 2:38 PM CDT, 50 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE  MEMPHIS TN
230 PM CDT SUN AUG 10 1986

 ...LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS APPROACHING RECREATIONAL AREAS...

AT 230 PM A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED FROM NEAR JACKSON
TENNESSEE INTO MISSISSIPPI NORTHWEST OF ENID RESERVOIR. THIS LINE OF
THUNDERSTORMS WILL LIKELY PRODUCE BRIEF VERY HEAVY RAIN, DANGEROUS
LIGHTNING AND GUSTY SURFACE WINDS. BOATERS AT ENID AND SARDIS RESERVOIRS
SHOULD TAKE IMMEDIATE PRECAUTIONS. BOATERS AT PICKWICK AND OTHER
RECREATIONAL SPOTS ALONG THE TENNESSEE RIVER SOUTH OF CAMDEN SHOULD
BEGIN MAKING PLANS TO RETURN TO SHORE WITHIN THE NEXT HOUR OR TWO.

OTHER THUNDERSHOWERS WERE SCATTERED AROUND WEST fTENNESSEE..NORTH
MISSISSIPPI AND SOUTH ARKANSAS.

THE LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WAS MOVING EAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Memphis, TN issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 10, 6:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGMonroe3 hr

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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.