Alert archive / Mississippi / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 24, NWS Memphis, TN

May 2, 1997Chickasaw County, Clay County, Mississippi

NWS Memphis, TN issued this tornado warning at May 2, 1997, 6:04 PM CDT for Chickasaw County, Clay County, Mississippi. It was in force for 31 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
May 2, 1997, 6:04 PM CDT (23:04 UTC)
Expired
May 2, 1997, 6:35 PM CDT
In force
31 min
Issued by
NWS Memphis, TN
Area
Whole counties

Counties Chickasaw County, MS, Clay County, MS

The radar

The Columbus AFB radar (KGWX), 51 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:06 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
May 2, 6:10 PM CDTThunderstorm WindWoodland, MSThunderstorm winds damaged parts of Woodland and Egypt. In Woodland, One house lost a porch and a second house had a tree blown on top of it. A mobile home was damaged. Several trees were knocked down with one tree hitting a pick-up truck. In Egypt, several ho
May 2, 6:15 PM CDTThunderstorm WindMontpelier, MSSeveral 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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 2, 12:15 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 12:00Z, 11.1 hours before the alert went out and 153 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 1997-05-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 496 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 1997-05-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 534 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
496 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-404 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
733 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
51 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
534 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
701 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMEM 022305 RRA
TORMEM
MSC017-025-022335-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
604 PM CDT FRI MAY 2 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS TN HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 635 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...

IN NORTHEASTERN MISSISSIPPI

   ...CHICKASAW COUNTY
   ...CLAY COUNTY
 
AT 602 PM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNDAO ALONG THE
CHICKASAW - CLAY COUNTY LINE JUST SOUTHEAST OF WOODLAND.  THE
THUNDERSTORM ASSOCIATED WITH THE TORNADO IS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 50
MPH.  THE FOLLOWING COMMUNITIES ARE NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM ...
SPARTA .. MCCONDY .. AND TREBLOC.

.THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION. ACT QUICKLY. IF YOU ARE IN THE
PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A PLACE OF SAFETY BELOW GROUND IF
AVAILABLE. OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR POSSIBLE. AVOID WINDOWS. ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR A
REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 2, 11:50 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGTallahatchie35 min
May 2, 12:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGPanola44 min
May 2, 12:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGMarshall48 min
May 2, 12:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGTallahatchie49 min
May 2, 3:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGPrentiss49 min
May 2, 3:12 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGItawamba, Lee33 min
May 2, 3:22 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGTishomingo33 min
May 2, 3:25 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGClay35 min
May 2, 3:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGMonroe50 min
May 2, 3:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGItawamba35 min
May 2, 5:41 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGCalhoun34 min
May 2, 5:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGChickasaw, Clay48 min
May 2, 6:20 PM CDTTornado WarningMEGMonroe30 min

Nearby

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