Alert archive / Mississippi / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 231, NWS Memphis, TN

July 9, 1997Lee County, Mississippi

NWS Memphis, TN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 9, 1997, 5:49 PM CDT for Lee County, Mississippi. It was in force for 36 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
Jul 9, 1997, 5:49 PM CDT (22:49 UTC)
Expired
Jul 9, 1997, 6:25 PM CDT
In force
36 min
Issued by
NWS Memphis, TN
Area
Whole counties

County Lee County, MS

The radar

The Columbus AFB radar (KGWX), 54 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:48 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
Jul 9, 5:53 PM CDTHail 0.75Tupelo, MS
Jul 9, 6:10 PM CDTThunderstorm WindBelden, MSNumerous trees nad power lines 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

Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 12:00Z, 10.8 hours before the alert went out and 131 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 1997-07-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2541 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 1997-07-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -1 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
2541 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-27 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
749 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
14 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-1 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
2 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.

734 
WUUS1 KMEM 092251 RRA
SVRMEM
MSC081-092325-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
549 PM CDT WED JUL 9 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS TN HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 625 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN NORTHEASTERN MISSISSIPPI

   ...LEE COUNTY
 
AT 549 PM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED AND SPOTTERS REPORTED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH LARGE HAIL ABOUT 3 MILES WEST OF SALTILLO.
THE STORM CONTINUED TO DRIFT SLOWLY SOUTHEAST AT 15 MPH. THE STORM
WILL PASS NORTH OF TUPELO.

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

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 9, 3:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGPrentiss46 min
Jul 9, 4:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGMarshall34 min
Jul 9, 4:31 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningMEGBenton, Marshall, Tippah3 hr
Jul 9, 4:31 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningMEGPrentiss3 hr
Jul 9, 4:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGPrentiss38 min
Jul 9, 5:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGLee31 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.