Alert archive / Mississippi / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 91, NWS Jackson, MS

February 21, 1997Marion County, Mississippi

NWS Jackson, MS issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Feb 21, 1997, 5:38 AM CST for Marion County, Mississippi. It was in force for 52 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
Feb 21, 1997, 5:38 AM CST (11:38 UTC)
Expired
Feb 21, 1997, 6:30 AM CST
In force
52 min
Issued by
NWS Jackson, MS
Area
Whole counties

County Marion County, MS

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Feb 21, 5:45 AM CSTThunderstorm WindColumbia, MS
Feb 21, 6:00 AM CSTThunderstorm WindColumbia, 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 watch it was issued in

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

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Feb 21, 4:45 AM CSTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Slidell Radar S, LA (KSIL), launched 00:00Z, 11.6 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 00:00Z on 1997-02-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 220 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, Slidell Radar S, LA at 00:00Z on 1997-02-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 159 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
220 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-3 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
509 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
46 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
159 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
201 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
0.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

530 
WUUS1 KJAN 211139 RRA
SVRJAN
MSC091-211230-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS
538 AM CST FRI FEB 21 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN JACKSON HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  630 AM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI
 
   ...MARION COUNTY
 
AT 537 AM RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER SOUTHERN MARION
COUNTY MOVING NORTHEAST AT NEAR 50 MPH. THIS STORM WILL MOVE BETWEEN
SANDY HOOK AND COLUMBIA INTO EASTERN MARION COUNTY BY 615 AM.
 
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.
<
 
55

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, Feb 21, 5:20 AM CST, 18 minutes before
MSZ029-032-033-038-044-049-050-211215-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS
520 AM CST FRI FEB 21 1997

TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 55 IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT FOR THE FOLLOWING
COUNTIES IN MISSISSIPPI...

WEBSTER...CHOCTAW...OKTIBBEHA...WINSTON...LEAKE...RANKIN...AND SCOTT.

THE LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS HAS MOVED INTO EXTREME EAST MISSISSIPPI AND
IS NO LONGER A THREAT TO THE LISTED COUNTIES.
Special weather statement, Feb 21, 5:26 AM CST, 12 minutes before
MSZ029-032-033-038-044-049-050-211215-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS
520 AM CST FRI FEB 21 1997

TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 55 IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT FOR THE FOLLOWING
COUNTIES IN MISSISSIPPI...

WEBSTER...CHOCTAW...OKTIBBEHA...WINSTON...LEAKE...RANKIN...AND SCOTT.

THE LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS HAS MOVED INTO EXTREME EAST MISSISSIPPI AND
IS NO LONGER A THREAT TO THE LISTED COUNTIES.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Feb 21, 1:34 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANAdams41 min
Feb 21, 1:55 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANFranklin, Jefferson65 min
Feb 21, 2:01 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANClaiborne59 min
Feb 21, 2:05 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANSunflower40 min
Feb 21, 2:13 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANWarren47 min
Feb 21, 2:29 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANCopiah, Hinds61 min
Feb 21, 2:34 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANLincoln56 min
Feb 21, 2:48 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANMadison, Yazoo57 min
Feb 21, 3:03 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANRankin, Simpson42 min
Feb 21, 3:08 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANHolmes52 min
Feb 21, 3:21 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANCarroll54 min
Feb 21, 3:34 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANScott56 min
Feb 21, 3:46 AM CSTTornado WarningJANScott44 min
Feb 21, 3:55 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANAttala, Leake, Montgomery65 min
Feb 21, 4:05 AM CSTTornado WarningJANLeake40 min
Feb 21, 4:14 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANChoctaw, Webster46 min
Feb 21, 4:17 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANSmith43 min
Feb 21, 4:20 AM CSTTornado WarningJANNeshoba40 min
Feb 21, 4:30 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANWinston45 min
Feb 21, 4:34 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANNewton41 min
Feb 21, 4:52 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANOktibbeha38 min
Feb 21, 4:57 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANKemper, Noxubee48 min
Feb 21, 5:29 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANJefferson Davis31 min
Feb 21, 5:43 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANCovington, Smith47 min
Feb 21, 6:12 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANJasper48 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.