Alert archive / Mississippi / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 42, NWS Memphis, TN

October 25, 1997Itawamba County, Mississippi

NWS Memphis, TN issued this tornado warning at Oct 25, 1997, 10:08 AM CDT for Itawamba County, Mississippi. It was in force for 47 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
Oct 25, 1997, 10:08 AM CDT (15:08 UTC)
Expired
Oct 25, 1997, 10:55 AM CDT
In force
47 min
Issued by
NWS Memphis, TN
Area
Whole counties

County Itawamba County, MS

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Oct 25, 10:20 AM CDTThunderstorm WindNew Salem, MSNumerous trees were blown down.
Oct 25, 10:25 AM CDTHail 0.75Fairview, 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
Oct 25, 8:30 AM CDTTornado WatchSPC7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 12:00Z, 3.1 hours before the alert went out and 158 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 1997-10-25Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 452 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 1997-10-25The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 185 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
452 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-131 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
524 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
68 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
185 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
177 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
2.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

435 
WFUS1 KMEM 251511 RRA
TORMEM
MSC057-251555-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
1008 AM CDT SAT OCT 25 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS TN HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1055 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN NORTHEASTERN MISSISSIPPI

   ...ITAWAMBA COUNTY
 
AT 1006 AM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO NEAR
EVERGREEN IN WESTERN ITAWAMBA COUNTY. THIS STORM IS MOVING
EAST AT 30 MPH AND WILL AFFECT NEW SALEM BY 1020 AM.

.IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT. GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO
BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SAFETY IN AN INTERIOR ROOM SUCH AS A
CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...OR CUSHIONS TO
COVER YOUR BODY. AVOID WINDOWS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 25, 6:52 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGTallahatchie48 min
Oct 25, 7:38 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGTallahatchie, Yalobusha32 min
Oct 25, 8:03 AM CDTTornado WarningMEGYalobusha32 min
Oct 25, 8:37 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGCalhoun33 min
Oct 25, 9:35 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGLee45 min
Oct 25, 9:43 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGChickasaw17 min
Oct 25, 9:51 AM CDTTornado WarningMEGLee34 min
Oct 25, 1:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGTunica40 min
Oct 25, 1:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGPanola, Quitman48 min
Oct 25, 4:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGLee33 min
Oct 25, 4:20 PM CDTTornado WarningMEGItawamba, Lee, Prentiss35 min
Oct 25, 4:37 PM CDTTornado WarningMEGItawamba, Tishomingo33 min
Oct 25, 4:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGLee35 min
Oct 25, 5:05 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGItawamba35 min
Oct 25, 5:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGTishomingo32 min
Oct 25, 5:52 PM CDTTornado WarningMEGCalhoun, Chickasaw48 min
Oct 25, 6:37 PM CDTTornado WarningMEGChickasaw33 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.