Alert archive / Mississippi / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 47, NWS Jackson, MS

May 2, 1997Oktibbeha County, Mississippi

NWS Jackson, MS issued this tornado warning at May 2, 1997, 7:46 PM CDT for Oktibbeha County, Mississippi. It was in force for 44 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 2, 1997, 7:46 PM CDT (00:46 UTC)
Expired
May 2, 1997, 8:30 PM CDT
In force
44 min
Issued by
NWS Jackson, MS
Area
Whole counties

County Oktibbeha County, MS

The radar

The Columbus AFB radar (KGWX), 73 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:46 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.

The watch it was issued in

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

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 2, 6:45 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Jackson, MS (KJAN), launched 00:00Z, 0.8 hours before the alert went out and 166 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 00:00Z on 1997-05-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2009 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Jackson, MS at 00:00Z on 1997-05-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 276 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
2009 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-16 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1075 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
61 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
276 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
400 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
4.0
Supercell composite
14.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

087 
WFUS1 KJAN 030048 RRA
TORJAN
MSC105-030130-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS
746 PM CDT FRI MAY 2 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN JACKSON HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  830 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTH CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI
 
   ...OKTIBBEHA COUNTY
 
AT 743 PM DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO ABOUT 12 MILES WEST OF
STARKVILLE...OVER NORTHERN CHOCTAW COUNTY. THE STORM WAS MOVING EAST
NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH...AND THE CITY OF STARKVILLE IS IN THE PATH OF THIS
STORM.
 
A FUNNEL CLOUD WAS REPORTED WITH THIS STORM AT 740 PM JUST NORTHWEST OF
ACKERMAN...AND GOLF BALL SIZED HAIL WAS REPORTED AT FRENCH CAMP AT 735
PM.
 
 
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.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 2, 7:08 PM CDTTornado WarningJANWashington52 min
May 2, 7:12 PM CDTTornado WarningJANChoctaw, Webster48 min
May 2, 7:19 PM CDTTornado WarningJANHolmes41 min
May 2, 7:30 PM CDTTornado WarningJANChoctaw45 min
May 2, 7:41 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANCarroll49 min
May 2, 7:48 PM CDTTornado WarningJANSunflower42 min
May 2, 7:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANMontgomery46 min
May 2, 8:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANBolivar, Washington47 min
May 2, 8:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANChoctaw, Webster43 min
May 2, 8:19 PM CDTTornado WarningJANHolmes41 min
May 2, 8:33 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANOktibbeha57 min
May 2, 8:38 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningJANCarroll, Grenada, Holmes, Montgomery3 hr
May 2, 8:38 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningJANOktibbeha, Webster3 hr
May 2, 8:39 PM CDTTornado WarningJANAttala, Carroll, Montgomery51 min
May 2, 8:42 PM CDTTornado WarningJANSunflower48 min
May 2, 9:04 PM CDTTornado WarningJANLeflore41 min
May 2, 9:09 PM CDTTornado WarningJANChoctaw51 min
May 2, 9:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANGrenada48 min
May 2, 9:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANMontgomery29 min
May 2, 9:34 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningJANAttala, Choctaw3 hr
May 2, 9:35 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANOktibbeha40 min
May 2, 9:41 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANWebster49 min
May 2, 10:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANLeflore41 min
May 2, 10:21 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANBolivar, Washington54 min
May 2, 10:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANSunflower46 min
May 2, 11:08 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANLeflore52 min
May 2, 11:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANGrenada48 min
May 2, 11:39 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANCarroll51 min
May 2, 11:41 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningJANGrenada, Webster3 hr
May 2, 11:41 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningJANOktibbeha3 hr
May 3, 12:17 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANHinds, Rankin43 min
May 3, 12:21 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANMontgomery54 min
May 3, 1:04 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANWarren, Yazoo41 min
May 3, 1:18 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANHinds, Madison42 min
May 3, 1:56 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANMadison, Rankin49 min
May 3, 2:22 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANLeake, Scott53 min
May 3, 2:40 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANKemper, Neshoba50 min
May 3, 2:52 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANNoxubee53 min
May 3, 2:57 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANNewton63 min
May 3, 3:16 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANLauderdale44 min
May 3, 4:18 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANClarke42 min
May 3, 4:52 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANLamar, Marion53 min
May 3, 5:15 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANForrest, Jones45 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.