Alert archive / Mississippi / Tornado Warnings in 1989
Tornado Warning 7, NWS Memphis, TN
NWS Memphis, TN issued this tornado warning at Mar 30, 1989, 9:50 PM CST for Lee County, Pontotoc County, Mississippi. It was in force for 25 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, 9:50 PM CST (03:50 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 30, 1989, 10:15 PM CST
- In force
- 25 min
- Issued by
- NWS Memphis, TN
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Lee County, MS, Pontotoc 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 30, 10:00 PM CST | Thunderstorm Wind 0 | Pontotoc, 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, 3.8 hours before the alert went out and 119 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.
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KTUP 310351 TORTUP MSC115-081-310415- BULLETIN EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUPELO MS 950 PM CST THU MAR 30 1989 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1045 PM CST FOR PERSONS IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN NORTHEAST MISSISSIPPI...PONTOTOC...LEE AT 946 PM CST... TUPELO NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WAS INDICATING A POS SIBLE TORNADO IN NORTHEASTERN PONTOTOC C;OUNTY MOVING TO THE EAST 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 30, 5:32 PM CST, 4 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, 1 hour 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)Special weather statement, Mar 30, 9:42 PM CST, 8 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUPELO MS 935 PM CST THU MAR 30 1989 ...TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH MISSISSIPPI HAS BEEN CANCELLED BUT A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR NORTHEAST MISSISSIPPI UNTIL 2 AM CST FRIDAY MORNING... AT 930 PM CST...TUPELO NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR WAS INDICATING VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS FROM NORTH OF BOONEVILLE MISSISSIPPI IN NORTHEAST MISSISSIPPI EXTENDING TO THE SOUTHWEST TO THE EXTREME SOUTHWEST CORNER OF PONTOTOC COUNTY IN NORTHEAST MISSISSIPPI. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TO THE EAST NORTHEAST AT 35 MILES AN HOUR. THESE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE THE POTENTIAL OF PRODUCING LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN...DAMAGING WINDS...DEADLY LIGHTNING AND POSSIBLY HAIL. ANYONE LIVING IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD BECOME WEATHER ALERT FOR RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND SEEK SAFE SHELTER I5N THE EVENT THE WEATHER BECOMES THREATENING. MORE STATEMENTS WILL BE ISSUED AS CONDITIONS WARRANT.
Special weather statement, Mar 30, 9:43 PM CST, 7 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN 945 PM CST THU MAR 30 1989 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL 2AM FOR MC NAIRY... HARDIN AND DECATUR COUNTIES IN WEST TENNESSEE... AT 930PM WEATHER RADAR SHOWED NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAINFALL ALONG A LINE FROM SAVANNAH TENNESSEE SOUTHWEST TO NEAR OXFORD AND WATER VALLEY MISSISSIPPI. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TO THE EAST AT 45 MILES AN HOUR. ELSEWHERE...LIGHT TO MODERATE RAIN WITH A FEW THUNDERSTORMS WERE OVER A LARGE PORTION OF WEST TENNESSEE AND NORTH MISSISSIPPI MOVING INTO NORTHWEST ALABAMA AND MIDDLE TENNESSEE.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Memphis, TN issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 30, 6:49 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | DeSoto | 41 min |
| Mar 30, 7:42 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | DeSoto, Marshall | 48 min |
| Mar 30, 7:58 PM CST | Tornado Warning | MEG | Coahoma | 17 min |
| Mar 30, 8:09 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Quitman | 36 min |
| Mar 30, 8:23 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Benton | 37 min |
| Mar 30, 8:26 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Panola | 49 min |
| Mar 30, 8:50 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Lafayette | 20 min |
| Mar 30, 9:20 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Union | 25 min |
| Mar 30, 10:15 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Itawamba | 30 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.