Alert archive / Mississippi / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Memphis, TN

March 5, 1989Itawamba County, Mississippi

NWS Memphis, TN issued this tornado warning at Mar 5, 1989, 12:37 AM CST for Itawamba County, Mississippi. It was in force for 38 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Mar 5, 1989, 12:37 AM CST (06:37 UTC)
Expired
Mar 5, 1989, 1:15 AM CST
In force
38 min
Issued by
NWS Memphis, TN
Area
Whole counties

County Itawamba 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 00:00Z, 6.6 hours before the alert went out and 158 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 1989-03-05Temperature 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 1989-03-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 44 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
3581 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
74 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
44 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
314 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 
TTAA00 KTUP 050638
TORTUP
MSC057-050715-

BULLETIN EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUPELO MS
1237 AM CST SUN MAR 5 1989

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE
UNTIL 115 AM CST FOR PERSONS IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY IN NORTHEAST
MISSISSIPPI...ITAWAMBA

AT 1236 AM...A SPOTTER REPORTED A FUNNEL CLOUD ON THE MONROE-ITAWAMBA
COUNTY ON HIGHWAY 371. MOVEMENT IS NORTHEAST AT 45 MILES AN HOUR.

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO..GO TO A STORM CELLAR OR A
CENTRAL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE
HOMES AND GO TO A CONCRETE OR BRICK BUILDING.

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 4, 9:50 PM CST, 2 hours 47 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE  MEMPHIS TN
950 PM CST  SAT MAR 4 1989

...FREEZING RAIN ADVISORY AFTER MIDNIGHT TONIGHT AND WINTER STORM WATCH
SUNDAY FOR WEST TENNESSEE...

A DEVELOPING WINTER STORM SYSTEM IN THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY WILL
BRING A COMBINATION OF RAIN AND COLD TO WEST TENNESSEE LATE TONIGHT AND
SUNDAY. RAIN IS EXPECTED TO CHANGE TO FREEZING RAIN BY SUNDAY MORNING
AND CAUSE DANGEROUS ICE ACCUMULATION ON EXPOSED OBJECTS.

THE COLD AIR HAS ADVANCED INTO EASTERN ARKANSAS AND WILL PUSH SLOWLY
INTO WESTERN TENNESSEE. AT 9 PM CST THE COLD FRONT ASSOCIATED WITH THE
STORM SYSTEM HAD JUST MADE ITS WAY INTO EXTREME WEST TENNSSEE. STRONG
NORTHERLY WINDS BEHIND THE FRONT WILL FEED COLD AIR INTO WEST TENNESSEE
AND TEMPERATURES WILL FALL TO NEAR OR SLIGHTLY BELOW FREEZING BY SUNDAY
MORNING.

THE DEVELOPING LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL RESULT IN WIDE SPREAD
PRECIPITATION HEAVY AT TIMES TONIGHT AND SUNDAY. WITH TEMPERATURES
EXPECTED TO BE AROUND FREEZING...THE POTENTIAL EXISTS FOR A MAJOR ICE
STORM ACROSS WEST TENNESSEE SUNDAY.

ICE ACCUMULATIONS COULD CAUSE DAMAGE TO POWER LINES AND TREES. BE
PREPARED FOR POSSIBLE POWER OUTAGES. MAKE SURE YOUR CAR HAS PLENTY OF
GAS. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE FOOD WHICH CAN BE EATEN WITHOUT BEING COOKED IN
CASE OF POWER OUTAGES. ALSO...MAKE SURE YOUR FLASHLIGHTS ARE IN WORKING
ORDER.
Special weather statement, Mar 4, 11:08 PM CST, 1 hour 29 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE  MEMPHIS TN
1110 PM CST  SAT MAR 4 1989

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH FOR A PORTION
OF SOUTHWEST TENNESSEE AND MOST OF NORTH MISSISSIPPI TIL 4 AM CST THIS
SUNDAY MORNING.

THE TORNADO WATCH IS 50 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM
45 MILES WEST NORTHWEST OF GREENWOOD MISSISSIPPI TO 25 MILES NORTHEAST
OF MUSCLE SHOALS ALABAMA.

VERY STRONG GUSTY WINDS OF 55 MPH OR MORE..LARGE HAIL..DANGEROUS CLOUD
TO GROUND LIGHTNING..AND VERY HEAVY RAINS ARE POSSIBLE IN SOUTHWEST
TENNESSEE AND NORTH MISSISSIPPI.

ALL COUNTIES IN NORTH MISSISSIPPI ARE INCLUDED IN THE WATCH. IN WEST
TENNESSEE..DECATOR..FAYETTE..HARDEMAN..AND MCNAIRY COUNTIES ARE
INCLUDED.
<
NUMEROUS HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEVELOPED OVER NORTH MISSISSIPPI
WEST TENNESSEE AND EASTERN ARKANSAS DURING LATE SATURDAY EVENING.
THIS ACTIVITY WILL LIKELY CONTINUE THROUGH EARLY SUNDAY MORNIN,G.

THE POSSIBILITY EXISTS THAT SOME THUNDERSTORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE.

STAY TUNED TO THIS STATION FOR FURTHER WEATHER INFORMATION.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 4, 9:00 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGLafayette30 min
Mar 4, 9:30 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGLafayette30 min
Mar 4, 9:50 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGClay30 min
Mar 4, 10:22 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningMEGTippah48 min
Mar 4, 10:22 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGTippah58 min
Mar 4, 11:05 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGChickasaw30 min
Mar 4, 11:35 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGChickasaw, Lee, Monroe35 min
Mar 5, 12:08 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGItawamba, Lee, Monroe37 min
Mar 5, 9:00 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGLowndes30 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Mississippi, 1989Every tornado warning in 1989Tornadoes 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.