Alert archive / Mississippi / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 209, NWS Memphis, TN

June 17, 1997Tallahatchie County, Mississippi

NWS Memphis, TN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 17, 1997, 5:37 AM CDT for Tallahatchie County, Mississippi. It was in force for 33 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
Jun 17, 1997, 5:37 AM CDT (10:37 UTC)
Expired
Jun 17, 1997, 6:10 AM CDT
In force
33 min
Issued by
NWS Memphis, TN
Area
Whole counties

County Tallahatchie County, MS

The radar

The Memphis radar (KNQA), 157 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 10:39 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
Jun 17, 1:30 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 00:00Z, 10.6 hours before the alert went out and 100 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 00:00Z on 1997-06-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2715 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 00:00Z on 1997-06-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 41 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
2715 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-16 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
726 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
41 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
58 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.4
Supercell composite
2.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMEM 171040 RRA
SVRMEM
MSC135-171110-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
537 AM CDT TUE JUN 17 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS TN HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 610 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN NORTHWESTERN MISSISSIPPI

   ...TALLAHATCHIE COUNTY
 
AT 535 AM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH
DAMAGING WINDS NEAR WEBB. THIS THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING EAST AT 30
MPH AND WILL MOVE ACROSS CHARLESTON AND PAYNES BY 6 AM.

.WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A
STRONG BUILDING. DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS. DO NOT USE TELEPHONES OR
ELECTRICAL APPLVIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL THE STORM HAS
PASSED. MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE INTO LOW WATER CROSSINGS.

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

Local storm report, Jun 17, 1:58 AM CDT, 3 hours 39 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TENNESSEE
158 AM CDT TUE JUN 17 1997

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

0115 AM    MORO                      AR   WIND DAMAGE
06/17/97   LEE                            TWO TREES WERE BLOWN DOWN

0130 AM    FORREST CITY              AR   WIND DAMAGE
06/17/97   ST FRANCIS                     NUMEROUS TREES AND POWER
                                          LINES DOWN
Local storm report, Jun 17, 2:00 AM CDT, 3 hours 37 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TENNESSEE
158 AM CDT TUE JUN 17 1997

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

0115 AM    MORO                      AR   WIND DAMAGE
06/17/97   LEE                            TWO TREES WERE BLOWN DOWN

0130 AM    FORREST CITY              AR   WIND DAMAGE
06/17/97   ST FRANCIS                     NUMERONUS TREES AND POWER
                                          LINES DOWN
Special weather statement, Jun 17, 3:33 AM CDT, 2 hours 4 minutes before
TNZ048>054-088>092-170850-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
333 AM CDT TUE JUN 17 1997

...THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER ENDING ALONG THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER...

THE IMMEDIATE THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER HAS ENDED OVER PARTS OF WEST
TENNESSEE. SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 460 IS NO LONGER IN
EFFECT FOR SHELBY...TIPTON AND LAUDERDALE COUNTIES IN WEST
TENNESSEE.

THIS SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE REMAINING
COUNTIES IN SOUTHWEST TENNESSEE UNTIL 6 AM INCLUDING FAYETTE...
HAYWOOD...CROCKETT...MADISON...HARDEMAN...MCNAIRY...CHESTER...
HENDERSON...DECATUR AND HARDIN.
Special weather statement, Jun 17, 3:35 AM CDT, 2 hours 2 minutes before
TNZ048>054-088>092-170850-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
333 AM CDT TUE JUN 17 1997

...THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER ENDING ALONG THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER...

THE IMMEDIATE THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER HAS ENDED OVER PARTS OF WEST
TENNESSEE. SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 460 IS NO LONGER IN
EFFECT FOR SHELBY...TIPTON AND LAUDERDALE COUNTIES IN WEST
TENNESSEE.

THIS SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE REMA,INING
COUNTIES IN SOUTHWEST TENNESSEE UNTIL 6 AM INCLUDING FAYETTE...
HAYWOOD...CROCKETT...MADISON...HARDEMAN...MCNAIRY...CHESTER...
HENDERSON...DECATUR AND HARDIN.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 17, 1:20 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGTunica50 min
Jun 17, 1:36 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGDeSoto49 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.