Alert archive / Mississippi / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 213, NWS Jackson, MS

May 2, 1997Webster County, Mississippi

NWS Jackson, MS issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 2, 1997, 2:43 PM CDT for Webster County, Mississippi. It was in force for 47 min. 2 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
May 2, 1997, 2:43 PM CDT (19:43 UTC)
Expired
May 2, 1997, 3:30 PM CDT
In force
47 min
Issued by
NWS Jackson, MS
Area
Whole counties

County Webster County, MS

The radar

The Columbus AFB radar (KGWX), 94 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:47 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 2, 3:20 PM CDTHail 0.88Tomnolen, MS
May 2, 3:25 PM CDTThunderstorm WindEupora, MSNumerous trees were blown down along Highway 82 and the Natchez Trace Parkway.

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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 2, 12:15 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 12:00Z, 7.7 hours before the alert went out and 148 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 021948 COR
SVRJAN
MSC155-022030-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS
243 PM CDT FRI MAY 2 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN JACKSON HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  330 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN NORTH CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI

   ...WEBSTER COUNTY

AT 245 PM RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ALONG THE
COUNTY LINE...WEST OF EUPORA. THE STORMS ARE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 45
MILES AN HOUR. THE LINE WILL REACH EUPORA BY 310 PM.

A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT.  REMEMBER SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
CAN PRODUCE TORNADOES WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING.  REMAIN
CALM BUT BE ALERT TO RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS.
<

77

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, 4 hours 30 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, 4 hours 28 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, 12:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANSunflower39 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, 2:53 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.