Alert archive / Mississippi / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 131, NWS Jackson, MS

March 30, 1997Marion County, Mississippi

NWS Jackson, MS issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 30, 1997, 1:57 PM CST for Marion County, Mississippi. It was in force for 48 min. 3 reports 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, 1997, 1:57 PM CST (19:57 UTC)
Expired
Mar 30, 1997, 2:45 PM CST
In force
48 min
Issued by
NWS Jackson, MS
Area
Whole counties

County Marion County, MS

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Mar 30, 2:05 PM CSTThunderstorm WindGoss, MS
Mar 30, 2:15 PM CSTHail 1.75Columbia, MS
Mar 30, 2:25 PM CSTHail 1.75Goss, 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Slidell Radar S, LA (KSIL), launched 12:00Z, 8.0 hours before the alert went out and 110 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, Slidell Radar S, LA at 12:00Z on 1997-03-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1096 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Slidell Radar S, LA at 12:00Z on 1997-03-30The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 78 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
1096 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-43 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
642 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
78 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
96 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.3
Supercell composite
2.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KJAN 301959 RRA
SVRJAN
MSC091-302045-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS
157 PM CST SUN MAR 30 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN JACKSON HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  245 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI
 
   ...NORTHERN MARION COUNTY
 
AT 157 PM CST JACKSON DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 3
MILES NORTHWEST OF MORGANTOWN MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH. LARGE HAIL...
POSSIBLY UP TO GOLF BALL SIZE... IS THE PRIMARY SEVERE WEATHER THREAT
WITH THIS SEVERE THUNDERSTORM.
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE WIND IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH...LARGE
HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AN:D VERY HEAVY RAIN.  MOVE TO AN
INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS.
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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, 9:36 AM CST, 4 hours 21 minutes before
MSZ001>082-310400-

MISSISSIPPI THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS
936 AM CST SUN MAR 30 1997

A COLD FRONT WAS ENTERING EXTREME NORTHWEST MISSISSIPPI THIS
MORNING. THIS FRONT WILL PUSH ACROSS ALL BUT SOUTHEAST SECTIONS OF
THE STATE BY THIS EVENING...AND WILL MOVE WELL OFF THE COAST BY
MONDAY MORNING.

THE AIRMASS AHEAD OF THIS FRONT WAS UNSTABLE...ESPECIALLY OVER THE
SOUTHERN HALF OF MISSISSIPPI. BECAUSE OF THIS...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS
ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP AS THE FRONT PUSHES THROUGH THE STATE. THERE
IS A CHANCE FOR ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP ACROSS
SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY THIS EVENING...WITH THE
BEST CHANCE OVER THE SOUTHEAST SECTIONS. LARGE HAIL IS THE MAIN
THREAT FROM THE SEVERE STORMS...ALTHOUGH DAMAGING DOWNBURST WINDS ARE
ALSO POSSIBLE.

ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS...HAM RADIO OPERATORS...AND EMERGENCY
MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL COULD BE REQUIRED OVER SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI THIS
AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 30, 2:07 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANJefferson Davis53 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Mississippi, 1997Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1997

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.