Alert archive / Mississippi / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1989

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 19, NWS Memphis, TN

March 30, 1989Lafayette County, Mississippi

NWS Memphis, TN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 30, 1989, 8:50 PM CST for Lafayette County, Mississippi. It was in force for 20 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 30, 1989, 8:50 PM CST (02:50 UTC)
Expired
Mar 30, 1989, 9:10 PM CST
In force
20 min
Issued by
NWS Memphis, TN
Area
Whole counties

County Lafayette 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 30, 9:00 PM CSTThunderstorm Wind 0Lafayette, 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

Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 00:00Z, 2.8 hours before the alert went out and 68 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 00:00Z on 1989-03-31Temperature 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 00:00Z on 1989-03-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -33 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
3589 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-33 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
126 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm 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 30, 5:32 PM CST, 3 hours 18 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE  MEMPHIS TN
530 PM CST THU MAR 30 1989

 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 70 CONTINUES IN EFFECT ACROSS
MUCH OF ARKANSAS ALONG WITH EXTREME WEST TENNESSEE AND EXTREME NORTH
WEST MISSISSSIPPI...

AT 525 PM WEATHER RADAR CONTINUED TO DETECT VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS
OVER CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST ARKANSAS...ROUGHLY BETWEEN LONOKE AND
CORNING.  THE STRONGEST WERE INDICATED TO BE NEAR DES ARC...ANOTHER
JUST NORTH OF CORNING...AND SOUTHWEST OF DELAPLANE.  THESE STORMS
WERE MOVING TOWARD THE EAST-NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH.

LARGE HAIL WAS BEEN REPORTED WITH THE MORE INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS AS
THEY TRACKED OVER CENTRAL AND NORTH ARKANSAS EARLIER THIS EVENING.

WEATHER CONDITIONS APPEAR TO FAVOR FURTHER INTENSIFICATION DURING THE
NEXT HOUR OR SO.
STAY TUNED TO THIS STATION FOR LATER UPDATES ON THIS POTENTIALLY
DESTRUCTIVE WEATHER SITUATION.
Local storm report, Mar 30, 8:46 PM CST, 4 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE  MEMPHIS TN
840 PM CST THU MAR 30 1989

 PRELIMINARY STORM REPORT FOR EAST ARKANSAS...WEST TENNESSEE..AND
NORTHWEST MISSISSIPPI.  LATER INQUIRIES SHOULD PRODUCE MORE REPORTS.

530 PM.....WIND DAMAGE TO TREES AND POWER LINES AT CORNING AR (CLAY
    COUNTY)
630 PM.....NICKEL SIZE HAIL AT FOREST CITY AR (ST. FRANCIS COUNTY)
650 PM.....GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL AT MARIANNA AR (LEE COUNTY)
655 PM.....GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL AT BRICKEYS AR (LEE COUNTY)
710 PM.....3/4-INCH HAIL AT WHITEHAVEN MS (DESOTO COUNTY)
725 PM.....3/4-INCH HAIL 8-MILES EAST OF MEMPHIS AIRPORT (SHELBY
    COUNTY)
725 PM.....3/4-INCH HAIL IN NORTH DESOTO COUNTY NEAR HERNANDO
750 PM.....GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL AT MOSCOW AND ROSSVILLE TN (FAYETTE
    COUNTY)
750 PM.....GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL AT MT. PLEASANT MS (MARSHALL COUNTY)
805 PM.....DIME SIZE HAIL AT JONESTOWN MS (COAHOMA COUNTY) 805 PM.....ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PARTIALLY UNROOFED IN CLARKSDALE MS
    (COAHOMA COUNTY)
815 PM.....3/4-INCH HAIL AT DARLING MS (QUITMAN COUNTY)

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 30, 6:49 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGDeSoto41 min
Mar 30, 7:42 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGDeSoto, Marshall48 min
Mar 30, 7:58 PM CSTTornado WarningMEGCoahoma17 min
Mar 30, 8:09 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGQuitman36 min
Mar 30, 8:23 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGBenton37 min
Mar 30, 8:26 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGPanola49 min
Mar 30, 9:20 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGUnion25 min
Mar 30, 9:50 PM CSTTornado WarningMEGLee, Pontotoc25 min
Mar 30, 10:15 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGItawamba30 min
Mar 30, 6:11 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGLee, St. Francis34 min
Mar 30, 6:25 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGCrittenden50 min
Mar 30, 7:22 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGPhillips38 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Mississippi, 1989Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1989

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.