Alert archive / Mississippi / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 209, NWS Jackson, MS

May 2, 1997Sunflower County, Mississippi

NWS Jackson, MS issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 2, 1997, 12:06 PM CDT for Sunflower County, Mississippi. It was in force for 39 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
May 2, 1997, 12:06 PM CDT (17:06 UTC)
Expired
May 2, 1997, 12:45 PM CDT
In force
39 min
Issued by
NWS Jackson, MS
Area
Whole counties

County Sunflower County, MS

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 2, 12:35 PM CDTHail 0.75Ruleville, 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

Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 12:00Z, 5.1 hours before the alert went out and 149 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 1997-05-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 496 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 1997-05-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 534 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
496 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-404 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
733 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
51 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
534 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
701 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KJAN 021708 RRA
SVRJAN
MSC133-021745-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS
1206 PM CDT FRI MAY 2 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN JACKSON HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1245 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTHWEST MISSISSIPPI
 
   ...NORTHERN SUNFLOWER COUNTY
 
AT 1206 PM RADAR INDICATED TWO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS...ONE JUST NORTH OF
CLEVELAND AND THE OTHER JUST WEST OF CLEVELAND. THE STORMS WERE MOVING
NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH...AND WILL AFFECT THE PARCHMAN AREA BY 1230 PM.
 
IF YOU ARE OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A STRONG BUILDING AWAY FROM
WINDOWS.  DAMAGING WINDS...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAI<N...AND
DEADLY LIGHTNING ARE ALL POSSIBLE IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.
<
 
 
63

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, May 2, 10:13 AM CDT, 1 hour 53 minutes before
MSZ001>082-030400-

MISSISSIPPI THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS
1015 AM CDT FRI MAY 02 1997

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP ALONG AND AHEAD OF AN OUTFLOW
BOUNDARY MOVING INTO NORTHWEST MISSISSIPPI. A STRONG UPPER LEVEL
DISTURBANCE ASSOCIATED WITH A SURFACE COLD FRONT WILL APPROACH THE
AREA AND TRIGGER STRONG THUNDERSTORMS FOR THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH TONIGHT.

SEVERE WEATHER WILL DEVELOP ACROSS THE REGION IN THE FORM OF LARGE
HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS AND POSSIBLE ISOLATED TORNADOES THROUGH
TONIGHT.

IT WILL LIKELY BECOME NECESSARY TO ACTIVATE STORM SPOTTERS...HAM RADIO
OPERATORS...AND PUBLIC SAFETY AND EMERGENCY PERSONNEL FOR THIS AFTERNOON
AND TONIGHT.
Special weather statement, May 2, 10:15 AM CDT, 1 hour 51 minutes before
MSZ001>082-030400-

MISSISSIPPI THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS
1015 AM CDT FRI MAY 02 1997

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP ALONG AND AHEAD OF AN OUTFLOW
BOUNDARY MOVING INTO NORTHWEST MISSISSIPPI. A STRONG UPPER LEVEL
DISTURBANCE ASSOCIATED WITH A SURFACE COLD FRONT WILL APPROACH THE
AREA AND TRIGGER STRONG THUNDERSTORMS FOR THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH TONIGHT.

SEVERE WEATHER WILL DEVELOP ACROSS THE REGION IN THE FORM OF LARGE
HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS AND POSSIBLE ISOLATED TORNADOES THROUGH
TONIGHT.

IT WILL LIKELY BECOME NECESSARY TO ACTIVATE STORM SPOTTERS...HAM RADIO
OPERATORS...AND PUBLIC SAFETY AND EMERGENCY PERSONNEL FOR THIS AFTERNOON
AND TONIGHT.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 2, 11:48 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANBolivar42 min
May 2, 1:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANHolmes54 min
May 2, 2:05 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANCarroll55 min
May 2, 2:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANMontgomery49 min
May 2, 2:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANWebster47 min
May 2, 2:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANChoctaw52 min
May 2, 3:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANOktibbeha42 min
May 2, 3:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANSunflower33 min
May 2, 4:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANLeflore57 min
May 2, 4:18 PM CDTTornado WarningJANLeflore42 min
May 2, 4:34 PM CDTTornado WarningJANCarroll, Grenada56 min
May 2, 4:53 PM CDTTornado WarningJANMontgomery52 min
May 2, 5:12 PM CDTTornado WarningJANIssaquena, Sharkey63 min
May 2, 5:19 PM CDTTornado WarningJANWashington41 min
May 2, 5:22 PM CDTTornado WarningJANWebster53 min
May 2, 5:55 PM CDTTornado WarningJANHumphreys65 min
May 2, 6:08 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANWashington52 min
May 2, 6:11 PM CDTTornado WarningJANHolmes64 min
May 2, 6:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANIssaquena, Sharkey46 min
May 2, 6:47 PM CDTTornado WarningJANAttala, Carroll, Montgomery58 min
May 2, 6:59 PM CDTTornado WarningJANHumphreys46 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.