Alert archive / Mississippi / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 10, NWS Mobile, AL

January 24, 1997Perry County, Mississippi

NWS Mobile, AL issued this tornado warning at Jan 24, 1997, 4:59 AM CST for Perry County, Mississippi. It was in force for 61 min. 1 report 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
Jan 24, 1997, 4:59 AM CST (10:59 UTC)
Expired
Jan 24, 1997, 6:00 AM CST
In force
61 min
Issued by
NWS Mobile, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Perry County, MS

The radar

The Mobile radar (KMOB), 90 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 11:06 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
Jan 24, 5:15 AM CSTThunderstorm Wind 50Oak Grove, 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
Jan 24, 4:00 AM CSTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Slidell Radar S, LA (KSIL), launched 00:00Z, 11.0 hours before the alert went out and 123 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, Slidell Radar S, LA at 00:00Z on 1997-01-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 188 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Slidell Radar S, LA at 00:00Z on 1997-01-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 161 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
188 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-21 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
597 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
38 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
161 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
200 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMOB 241059 RRA
TORMOB
MSC111-241200-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
459 AM CST FRI JAN 24 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  600 AM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI
 
   ...PERRY COUNTY
 
AT 455 AM WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A THUNDERSTORM
PRODUCING A POSSIBLE TORNADO MOVING INTO SOUTHWEST PERRY COUNTY
MISSISSIPPI. THIS STORM WILL MOVE NORTHEAST AND MOVE TO JUST EAST OF
JANICE BY 515 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 SHELTER 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 Mobile, AL issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 24, 4:51 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBStone69 min
Jan 24, 5:05 AM CSTTornado WarningMOBWayne40 min
Jan 24, 5:19 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBGeorge, Greene56 min
Jan 24, 5:13 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBGeorge, Stone62 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.