Alert archive / Mississippi / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 285, NWS Jackson, MS

May 20, 1997Lincoln County, Mississippi

NWS Jackson, MS issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 20, 1997, 5:38 PM CDT for Lincoln County, Mississippi. It was in force for 52 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 20, 1997, 5:38 PM CDT (22:38 UTC)
Expired
May 20, 1997, 6:30 PM CDT
In force
52 min
Issued by
NWS Jackson, MS
Area
Whole counties

County Lincoln County, MS

The nearest sounding before it

Jackson, MS (KJAN), launched 12:00Z, 10.6 hours before the alert went out and 94 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, Jackson, MS at 12:00Z on 1997-05-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 736 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, Jackson, MS at 12:00Z on 1997-05-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 51 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
736 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-18 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
540 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
51 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
67 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

475 
WUUS1 KJAN 202239 RRA
SVRJAN
MSC085-202330-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS
538 PM CDT TUE MAY 20 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN JACKSON HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  630 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHWEST MISSISSIPPI
 
   ...SOUTHERN LINCOLN COUNTY
 
AT 536 PM WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CENTERED
9 MILES NORTHWEST OF RUTH MOVING EAST SOUTHEAST AT NEAR 15 MPH.
HAIL TO THE SIZE OF DIMES AND WINDS UP TO 60 MPH MAY OCCUR WITH THIS
STORM...AS WELL AS VERY HEAVY RAINFALL DUE TO THE SLOW STORM MOVEMENT.
OTHER STRONG STORMS WILL AFFECT SOUTHWESTERN LINCOLN COUNTY THROUGH
600 PM.
 
PEOPLE NEAR THE STORM SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING AWAY
FROM WINDOWS.  DONT USE TELEPHONES OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNTIL
THE STORM HAS PASSED.  MOTORISTS DONT DRIVE INTO WATER CROSSINGS.
<
 
 
68

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

Local storm report, May 20, 1:06 PM CDT, 4 hours 32 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MISSISSIPPI
106 PM CDT TUE MAY 20 1997

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0340 PM    BUDE                      MS   .75 INCH HAIL
05/19/97   FRANKLIN                       REPORTED BY MEADVILLE P.D.

0400 PM    MENDENHALL                MS   WIND DAMAGE
05/19/97   SIMPSON                        SEVERAL TREES AND POWER
                                          LINES DOWN AROUND
                                          MENDENHALL HIGH SCHOOL.
                                          MINOR DAMAGE TO THE HIGH
                                          SCHOOL ROOF.
                                          REPORTED BY WLBT TV.
Local storm report, May 20, 1:09 PM CDT, 4 hours 29 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MISSISSIPPI
106 PM CDT TUE MAY 20 1997

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0340 PM    BUDE                      MS   .75 INCH HAIL
05/19/97   FRANKLIN                       REPORTED BY MEADVILLE P.D.

0400 PM    MENDENHALL                MS   WIND DAMAGE
05/19/97   SIMPSON                        SEVERAL TREES AND POWER
                                          LINES DOWN AROUND
                                          MENDENHALL HIGH SCHOOL.
                                          MINOR DAMAGE TO THE HIGH
                                          SCHOOL ROOF.
                                          REPORTED BY WLBT TV.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 20, 6:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANJefferson Davis, Lawrence52 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.