Alert archive / Mississippi / Tornado Warnings in 1997
Tornado Warning 50, NWS Mobile, AL
NWS Mobile, AL issued this tornado warning at Nov 1, 1997, 2:56 PM CST for Greene County, Mississippi; Washington County, Alabama. It was in force for 64 min. 3 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
- Nov 1, 1997, 2:56 PM CST (20:56 UTC)
- Expired
- Nov 1, 1997, 4:00 PM CST
- In force
- 64 min
- Issued by
- NWS Mobile, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Washington County, AL, Greene County, MS
The radar
The Mobile radar (KMOB), 72 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:59 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 1, 3:00 PM CST | Thunderstorm Wind 50 | Kittrell, MS | Trees and power lines were blown down along State Road 42 just east of Kittrell. |
| Nov 1, 3:15 PM CST | Thunderstorm Wind 50 | Chatom, AL | Trees and power lines were blown down just west of Chatom. |
| Nov 1, 3:45 PM CST | Thunderstorm Wind 50 | Wagarville, AL | Trees and power lines were blown down near the community of Wagarville. |
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.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 1, 1:15 PM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Slidell Radar S, LA (KSIL), launched 12:00Z, 8.9 hours before the alert went out and 170 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 2011 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -4 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 499 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 46 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 151 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 162 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 1.6
- Supercell composite
- 6.9
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KMOB 012057 RRA TORMOB ALC129-MSC041-012200- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL 256 PM CST SAT NOV 1 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 400 PM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... IN SOUTHWEST ALABAMA ...WASHINGTON COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI ...GREENE COUNTY AT 253 PM CST...NWS DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR INDICATE A DEVELOPING TORNADO NEAR STATE LINE, MS. THIS STORM WAS MOVING EAST-NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH AND WILL MOVE INTO CENTRAL WASHINGTON COUNTY...NEAR CHATOM...AND THEN FURTHER EAST TO NORTH OF WAGARAVILLE BY 4 PM CST. THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION. ACT QUICKLY. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER 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 DITCVH OR CULVERT.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Mobile, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 1, 12:40 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Wayne | 2 hr |
| Nov 1, 2:34 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Stone | 56 min |
| Nov 1, 2:42 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Greene | 2 hr |
| Nov 1, 2:42 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Perry | 2 hr |
| Nov 1, 3:14 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | George | 61 min |
| Nov 1, 12:40 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Choctaw, Clarke, Washington | 2 hr |
| Nov 1, 1:16 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Covington | 59 min |
| Nov 1, 2:10 PM CST | Tornado Warning | MOB | Choctaw | 65 min |
| Nov 1, 2:21 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Butler | 54 min |
| Nov 1, 2:42 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Wilcox | 2 hr |
| Nov 1, 3:14 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Monroe | 61 min |
| Nov 1, 3:33 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Crenshaw | 27 min |
| Nov 1, 3:47 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Mobile | 58 min |
| Nov 1, 3:47 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Conecuh | 58 min |
| Nov 1, 3:57 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Escambia | 63 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Mississippi, 1997Tornado Warnings in Alabama, 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.