Alert archive / Mississippi / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 22, NWS New Orleans, LA

November 21, 1997Hancock County, Harrison County, Mississippi

NWS New Orleans, LA issued this tornado warning at Nov 21, 1997, 2:43 PM CST for Hancock County, Harrison County, Mississippi. It was in force for 62 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: Nov 21, 1997, 2:43 PM CST (20:43 UTC)
Expired: Nov 21, 1997, 3:45 PM CST
In force: 62 min
Issued by: NWS New Orleans, LA
Area: Whole counties

Counties Hancock County, MS, Harrison County, MS

The radar

The Mobile radar (KMOB), 104 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:44 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
Nov 21, 3:00 PM CST	Tornado F1	Sellers, MS
Nov 21, 3:25 PM CST	Tornado F1	Saucier, 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.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Nov 21, 11:15 AM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Slidell Radar S, LA (KSIL), launched 12:00Z, 8.7 hours before the alert went out and 44 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: 20 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -114 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 981 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 52 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 192 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 207 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.

000 
TTAA00 KNEW 212043 RRA
TORNEW
MSC045-047-212145-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS LA
243 PM CST FRI NOV 21 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NEW ORLEANS HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  345 PM CST
FOR RESIDENTS IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTH MISSISSIPPI
 
   ...NORTHERN HANCOCK COUNTY...NORTHERN HARRISON COUNTY
 
AT 240 PM CST NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR CONTINUED TO SHOW A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM WITH A POSSIBLE TORNADO NEAR THE PEARL RIVER AND HANCOCK
COUNTY LINE EAST OF PICAYUNE. THE STORM WAS MOVING EAST AT 40 MILES AN
HOUR AND WILL AFFECT THE TOWNS OF CAESER...STENNIS SPACE CENTER AND
LYMAN.
 
A TORNADO HAS BEEN REPORTED AT 242 PM CST NEAR NICHOLSON BY PEARL RIVER
SHERIFFS OFFICE.
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE
OF STURDY FURNITURE. SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM SUCH AS A
CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...ORR CUSHIONS TO
COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS. TAKE COVER NOW!
 
 
 
&

The office that day

Everything else NWS New Orleans, LA issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Nov 21, 7:45 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LIX	Wilkinson	30 min
Nov 21, 12:12 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LIX	Walthall	48 min
Nov 21, 1:56 PM CST	Tornado Warning	LIX	Hancock, Pearl River	49 min
Nov 21, 3:00 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LIX	Pearl River	30 min
Nov 21, 3:46 PM CST	Tornado Warning	LIX	Harrison, Jackson	44 min
Nov 21, 4:38 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LIX	Jackson	52 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.