Alert archive / Mississippi / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 111, NWS Memphis, TN

April 21, 1997Lafayette County, Mississippi

NWS Memphis, TN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 21, 1997, 5:07 PM CDT for Lafayette County, Mississippi. It was in force for 33 min. 1 report 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
Apr 21, 1997, 5:07 PM CDT (22:07 UTC)
Expired
Apr 21, 1997, 5:40 PM CDT
In force
33 min
Issued by
NWS Memphis, TN
Area
Whole counties

County Lafayette County, MS

The radar

The Memphis radar (KNQA), 115 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:08 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Apr 21, 5:35 PM CDTHail 1.75Dogtown, 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
Apr 21, 1:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 12:00Z, 10.1 hours before the alert went out and 68 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, Little Rock, AR at 12:00Z on 1997-04-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 465 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, Little Rock, AR at 12:00Z on 1997-04-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 67 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
465 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-168 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1076 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
67 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-64 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 KMEM 212207 RRA
SVRMEM
MSC071-212240-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
507 PM CDT MON APR 21 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS TN HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 540 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN NORTHWESTERN MISSISSIPPI

   ...LAFAYETTE COUNTY
 
AT 504 PM CDT...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS INDICATED BY DOPPLER
WEATHER RADAR 6 MILES SOUTHEAST OF OXFORD OR 4 MILES WEST OF
DENMARK MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH.

THIS STORM WILL PASS NEAR DENMARK AND TULA BY 510 PM CDT.
THIS STORM HAS PRODUCED DIME SIZE HAIL IN OXFORD.

.THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM. IF YOU ARE IN ITS PATH YOU SHOULD
PREPARE FOJR DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH...LARGE HAIL...AND
DEADLY LIGHTNING. PEOPLE OUTSIDE SHOULD MOVE TO A PLACE OF
SAFETY...PREFERABLY INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING BUT STAY AWAY FROM
WINDOWS.
 

&

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, Apr 21, 3:40 PM CDT, 1 hour 27 minutes before
TNZ008>016-021-022-024>041-049-050-052>102-212115-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
340 PM CDT MON APR 21 1997

...SEVERE WEATHER THREAT HAS ENDED OVER SOUTHWEST TENNESSEE...

THE THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER HAS ENDED FOR THE EXTREME SOUTHWEST
PART OF TENNESSEE. SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 166 IS NO LONGER
IN EFFECT FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN SOUTHWEST TENNESSEE
SHELBY...TIPTON...FAYETTE...HAYWOOD...HARDEMAN AND MADISON. SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 166 REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR PARTS OF WEST
AND MUCH OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE UNTIL 8 PM CDT.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 167 REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR A LARGE
PART OF EAST TENNESSEE UNTIL 9 PM EDT/8 PM CDT.

STAY TUNED TO THIS STATION FOR LATER STATEMENTS.
Special weather statement, Apr 21, 3:41 PM CDT, 1 hour 26 minutes before
TNZ008>016-021-022-024>041-049-050-052>102-212115-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
340 PM CDT MON APR 21 1997

...SEVERE WEATHER THREAT HAS ENDED OVER SOUTHWEST TENNESSEE...

THE THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER HAS ENDED FOR THE EXTREME SOUTHWEST
PART OF TENNESSEE. SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 166 IS NO LONGER
IN EFFECT FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN SOUTHWEST TENNESSEE
SHELBY...TIPTON...FAYETTE...HAYWOOD...HARDEMAN AND MADISON. SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 166 REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR PARTS OF WEST
AND MUCH OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE UNTIL 8 PM CDT.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 167 REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR A LARGE
PART OF EAST TENNESSEE UNTIL 9 PM EDT/8 PM CDT.

STAY TUNED TO THIS STATION FOR LATER STATEMENTS.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Memphis, TN issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 21, 4:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGAlcorn, Prentiss49 min
Apr 21, 4:24 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGLafayette46 min
Apr 21, 4:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGPontotoc46 min
Apr 21, 5:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGItawamba, Prentiss49 min
Apr 21, 5:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGPontotoc49 min
Apr 21, 5:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGTishomingo30 min
Apr 21, 6:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGChickasaw46 min
Apr 21, 6:33 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGCalhoun32 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.