Alert archive / Louisiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 338, NWS Jackson, MS

May 28, 1997Catahoula Parish, Louisiana

NWS Jackson, MS issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 28, 1997, 5:54 PM CDT for Catahoula Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 51 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 28, 1997, 5:54 PM CDT (22:54 UTC)
Expired
May 28, 1997, 6:45 PM CDT
In force
51 min
Issued by
NWS Jackson, MS
Area
Whole counties

County Catahoula Parish, LA

The radar

The Ft Polk radar (KPOE), 121 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:58 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 28, 6:02 PM CDTHail 2.75Harrisonburg, LANumerous automobiles and roofs of houses were damaged by baseball size hail.

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

Jackson, MS (KJAN), launched 12:00Z, 10.9 hours before the alert went out and 182 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 1997-05-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 35 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 1997-05-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 19 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
35 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-262 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1091 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
29 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
19 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
45 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

041 
WUUS1 KJAN 282257 RRA
SVRJAN
LAC025-282345-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS
554 PM CDT WED MAY 28 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN JACKSON HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  645 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTHEAST LOUISIANA
 
   ...CATAHOULA PARISH
 
AT 553 PM...JACKSON DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 4
MILES SOUTHWEST OF HARRISONBURG. THIS STORM WAS DRIFTING NORTH AT 5 MPH
AND IS EXPECTED TO REACH HARRISONBURG BY 610 PM.
 
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE WIND IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH...LARGE
HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.  MOVE TO AN
INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS.
<
 
75

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 28, 3:49 PM CDT, 2 hours 5 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MISSISSIPPI
349 PM CDT WED MAY 28 1997

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

0755 PM    METCALF                   MS   WIND DAMAGE
05/27/97   WASHINGTON                     TRAILER DESTROYED...TREES
                                          DOWN

0845 PM    RAYVILLE                  LA   WIND DAMAGE
05/27/97   RICHLAND                       TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN

0845 PM    YAZOO CITY                MS   .75 INCH HAIL
05/27/97   YAZOO                          TREES DOWN

0945 PM    POLKVILLE                 MS   .88 INCH HAIL
05/27/97   SMITH                          TREES DOWN
1025 PM    PELAHATCHIE               MS   1 INCH HAIL
05/27/97   RANKIN                         PEA TO QUARTER SIZE HAIL

1115 PM    TERRY                     MS   .75 INCH HAIL
05/27/97   HINDS                          TREES DOWN

1200 AM    HARPERVILLE               MS   WIND DAMAGE
05/28/97   SCOTT                          TREES DOWN
Local storm report, May 28, 3:57 PM CDT, 1 hour 57 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MISSISSIPPI
349 PM CDT WED MAY 28 1997

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

0755 PM    METCALF                   MS   WIND DAMAGE
05/27/97   WASHINGTON                     TRAILER DESTROYED...TREES
                                          DOWN

0845 PM    RAYVILLE                  LA   WIND DAMAGE
05/27/97   RICHLAND                       TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN

0845 PM    YAZOO CITY                MS   .75 INCH HAIL
05/27/97   YAZOO                          TREES DOWN

0945 PM    POLKVILLE                 MS   .88 INCH HAIL
05/27/97   SMITH                          TREES DOWN
1025 PM    PELAHATCHIE               MS   1 INCH HAIL
05/27/97   RANKIN                         PEA TO QUARTER SIZE HAIL

1115 PM    TERRY                     MS   .75 INCH HAIL
05/27/97   HINDS                          TREES DDOWN

1200 AM    HARPERVILLE               MS   WIND DAMAGE
05/28/97   SCOTT                          TREES DOWN

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 27, 8:20 PM CDTTornado WarningJANRichland40 min
May 27, 8:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANRichland34 min
May 27, 9:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANEast Carroll, Madison50 min
May 28, 4:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANConcordia45 min
May 28, 4:18 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningJANConcordia117 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Louisiana, 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.