Alert archive / Mississippi / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 74, NWS Jackson, MS

October 24, 1997Rankin County, Mississippi

NWS Jackson, MS issued this tornado warning at Oct 24, 1997, 1:57 AM CDT for Rankin County, Mississippi. It was in force for 33 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: Oct 24, 1997, 1:57 AM CDT (06:57 UTC)
Expired: Oct 24, 1997, 2:30 AM CDT
In force: 33 min
Issued by: NWS Jackson, MS
Area: Whole counties

County Rankin County, MS

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Oct 24, 2:00 AM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Brandon, MS	Several trees were blown down.
Oct 24, 2:15 AM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Florence, MS	Several trees were blown down.

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 00:00Z, 7.0 hours before the alert went out and 14 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 1076 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 63 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 189 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 329 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.

785 
WFUS1 KJAN 240659 RRA
TORJAN
MSC121-240730-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS
157 AM CDT FRI OCT 24 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN JACKSON HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  230 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI
 
   ...RANKIN COUNTY
 
AT 155 AM A DEVELOPING TORNADO WAS 4 MILES WEST SOUTHWEST OF
BRANDON...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 45 MILES AN HOUR. THIS MOVEMENT WILL
TAKE THE POSSIBLE TORNADO JUST NORTH OF BRANDON BY 210 AM.
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS IN AN
INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  GET UNDER STURDY FURNITURE.
USE PILLOWS OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR HEAD.
<
63

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado 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, Oct 23, 11:54 PM CDT, 2 hours 3 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS
1154 PM CDT THU OCT 23 1997

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

1130 PM    ALTON                     LA   WIND DAMAGE
10/23/97   MADISON                        TALLULLAH PD REPORTED TREES
                                          DOWN...POWERLINES DOWN AND
                                          ONE MOBILE HOME DAMAGED.

Local storm report, Oct 23, 11:58 PM CDT, 1 hour 59 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS
1154 PM CDT THU OCT 23 1997

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

1130 PM    ALTON                     LA   WIND DAMAGE
10/23/97   MADISON                        TALLULLAH PD REPORTED TREES
                                          DOWN...POWERLINES DOWN AND
                                          ONE MOBILE HOME DAMAGED.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Oct 23, 11:27 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAN	Adams	33 min
Oct 23, 11:53 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	JAN	Adams, Jefferson	37 min
Oct 24, 12:21 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAN	Yazoo	39 min
Oct 24, 12:23 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	JAN	Claiborne, Jefferson	37 min
Oct 24, 12:37 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	JAN	Copiah	53 min
Oct 24, 12:59 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAN	Claiborne, Warren	31 min
Oct 24, 1:05 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	JAN	Hinds, Madison	25 min
Oct 24, 1:14 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAN	Attala	31 min
Oct 24, 1:29 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	JAN	Madison	31 min
Oct 24, 1:32 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAN	Claiborne, Hinds	28 min
Oct 24, 1:46 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAN	Jefferson	29 min
Oct 24, 2:03 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAN	Madison	27 min
Oct 24, 2:08 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAN	Kemper	52 min
Oct 24, 4:31 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAN	Lamar	29 min
Oct 24, 4:34 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAN	Forrest	26 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Mississippi, 1997 Every tornado warning in 1997 Tornadoes 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.