Alert archive / Mississippi / Tornado Warnings in 1997
Tornado Warning 31, NWS Jackson, MS
NWS Jackson, MS issued this tornado warning at May 2, 1997, 4:34 PM CDT for Carroll County, Grenada County, Mississippi. It was in force for 56 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, 4:34 PM CDT (21:34 UTC)
- Expired
- May 2, 1997, 5:30 PM CDT
- In force
- 56 min
- Issued by
- NWS Jackson, MS
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Carroll County, MS, Grenada County, MS
The radar
The Columbus AFB radar (KGWX), 145 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:35 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 2, 5:00 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Elliott, MS | Several trees were blown down. One tree fell on a building. |
| May 2, 5:15 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Grenada, MS | The roof of an airport hanger was blown off. |
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.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 2, 12:15 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 7 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 12:00Z, 9.6 hours before the alert went out and 136 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.
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KJAN 022136 RRA TORJAN MSC015-043-022230- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS 434 PM CDT FRI MAY 2 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN JACKSON HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 530 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... IN CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI ...CARROLL COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI ...GRENADA COUNTY AT 432 PM DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO NEAR GREENWOOD. THE STORM PRODUCING THIS TORNADO WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 50 MPH. THIS STORM WILL PASS NEAR THE TOWN OF AVALON IN NORTHWEST CARROLL COUNTY BY 445 PM...AND NEAR THE CITY OF GRENADA BY 5 PM. THIS STORM MAY ALSO PRODUCE HAIL UP TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER ANtD DAMAGING WINDS. THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM. MOVE QUICKLY TO UNDERGROUND SHELTER IF AVAILABLE. OTHERWISE...GO TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. AVOID WINDOWS. LEAVE CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR A STURDY BUILDING. < 69
The office that day
Everything else NWS Jackson, MS issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2, 11:48 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Bolivar | 42 min |
| May 2, 12:06 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Sunflower | 39 min |
| May 2, 1:51 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Holmes | 54 min |
| May 2, 2:05 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Carroll | 55 min |
| May 2, 2:26 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Montgomery | 49 min |
| May 2, 2:43 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Webster | 47 min |
| May 2, 2:53 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Choctaw | 52 min |
| May 2, 3:18 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Oktibbeha | 42 min |
| May 2, 3:57 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Sunflower | 33 min |
| May 2, 4:03 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Leflore | 57 min |
| May 2, 4:18 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | JAN | Leflore | 42 min |
| May 2, 4:53 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | JAN | Montgomery | 52 min |
| May 2, 5:12 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | JAN | Issaquena, Sharkey | 63 min |
| May 2, 5:19 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | JAN | Washington | 41 min |
| May 2, 5:22 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | JAN | Webster | 53 min |
| May 2, 5:55 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | JAN | Humphreys | 65 min |
| May 2, 6:08 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Washington | 52 min |
| May 2, 6:11 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | JAN | Holmes | 64 min |
| May 2, 6:29 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Issaquena, Sharkey | 46 min |
| May 2, 6:47 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | JAN | Attala, Carroll, Montgomery | 58 min |
| May 2, 6:59 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | JAN | Humphreys | 46 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Mississippi, 1997Every tornado warning in 1997Tornadoes 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.