Alert archive / Mississippi / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 43, NWS Memphis, TN

October 25, 1997Itawamba County, Lee County, Prentiss County, Mississippi

NWS Memphis, TN issued this tornado warning at Oct 25, 1997, 4:20 PM CDT for Itawamba County, Lee County, Prentiss County, Mississippi. It was in force for 35 min. 7 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, 4:20 PM CDT (21:20 UTC)
Expired
Oct 25, 1997, 4:55 PM CDT
In force
35 min
Issued by
NWS Memphis, TN
Area
Whole counties

Counties Itawamba County, MS, Lee County, MS, Prentiss County, MS

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Oct 25, 4:25 PM CDTHail 2.75Wheeler, MSSeveral cars and buildings were badly damaged from baseball size hail just north of Baldwyn.
Oct 25, 4:25 PM CDTThunderstorm WindWheeler, MSSome trees were knocked down damaging some roofs.
Oct 25, 4:30 PM CDTHail 1Saltillo, MS
Oct 25, 4:30 PM CDTThunderstorm WindKirkville, MSAn old schoolhouse was demolished. Several trees were blown down on top on some mobile homes. One person suffered a broken arm injury when a tree hit their house.
Oct 25, 4:50 PM CDTHail 0.75Sand Spgs, MS
Oct 25, 5:00 PM CDTHail 2.75Saltillo, MSNumerous homes suffered roof and window damage from the baseball size hail.
Oct 25, 5:00 PM CDTThunderstorm WindSaltillo, MSNumerous tree 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
Oct 25, 3:00 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 12:00Z, 9.3 hours before the alert went out and 139 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.

000 
TTAA00 KMEM 252124 RRA
TORMEM
MSC057-081-117-252155-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS TN HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 455 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...

IN NORTHEASTERN MISSISSIPPI

   ...NORTHERN LEE COUNTY
   ...NORTHWEST ITAWAMBA COUNTY 
   ...SOUTHERN PRENTISS COUNTY
 
AT 418 PM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO NORTHEAST
OF SALTILLO MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH. THIS STORM WILL AFFECT
MARIETTA BY 435 PM.

.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, 10:08 AM CDTTornado WarningMEGItawamba47 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, 4:37 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.