Alert archive / Mississippi / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 331

May 26, 199719 counties in Alabama; 22 counties in Mississippi

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at May 26, 1997, 10:15 PM CDT for 19 counties in Alabama; 22 counties in Mississippi. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: May 26, 1997, 10:15 PM CDT (03:15 UTC)
Expired: May 27, 1997, 3:00 AM CDT
In force: 5 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 41 counties

Blount County, AL, Colbert County, AL, Cullman County, AL, Fayette County, AL, Franklin County, AL, Jefferson County, AL, Lamar County, AL, Lauderdale County, AL, Lawrence County, AL, Limestone County, AL, Madison County, AL, Marion County, AL, Marshall County, AL, Morgan County, AL, Pickens County, AL, St. Clair County, AL, Talladega County, AL, Walker County, AL, Winston County, AL, Alcorn County, MS, Benton County, MS, Calhoun County, MS, Chickasaw County, MS, Choctaw County, MS, Clay County, MS, Grenada County, MS, Itawamba County, MS, Lafayette County, MS, Lee County, MS, Lowndes County, MS, Marshall County, MS, Monroe County, MS, Montgomery County, MS, Oktibbeha County, MS, Pontotoc County, MS, Prentiss County, MS, Tippah County, MS, Tishomingo County, MS, Union County, MS, Webster County, MS, Yalobusha County, MS

Warnings issued inside it

7 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 26, 10:18 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Colbert	42 min
May 26, 10:53 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Colbert, Franklin	67 min
May 26, 11:01 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Marion, Winston	49 min
May 26, 11:15 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Lawrence	60 min
May 26, 11:39 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Winston	36 min
May 27, 12:04 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Cullman	61 min
May 27, 12:19 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Winston	36 min

The nearest sounding before it

Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 00:00Z, 3.3 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 4008 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -14 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 884 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 30 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 121 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.8
Supercell composite: 4.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

357 
WWUS9 KMKC 270244
SEL1  
MKC WW 270244
MSZ000-ALZ000-270800-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 331
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
944 PM CDT MON MAY 26 1997

THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF

   NORTHERN MISSISSIPPI                        
   NORTHERN ALABAMA                            

EFFECTIVE THIS MONDAY NIGHT AND TUESDAY MORNING FROM 1015 PM UNTIL
300 AM CDT.

HAIL TO 2 1/2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 80
MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 60 STATUTE MILES
NORTH AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 25 MILES SOUTHWEST OF OXFORD
MISSISSIPPI TO 15 MILES NORTH OF GADSDEN ALABAMA.

REMEMBER...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE
FAVORABLE FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. 
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...  CONTINUE...WW 326...WW 327...WW
328...WW 329...WW 330...

DISCUSSION...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER WESTERN TENNESSEE ARE
EXPECTED TO SPREAD SOUTHEASTWARD INTO NORTHERN PARTS OF MISSISSIPPI
AND ALABAMA DURING THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS.  AIR MASS AHEAD OF THE
STROMS IS QUITE UNSTABLE ACCORDING TO THE 00Z JAN AND BMX
SOUNDINGS...WITH LIFTED INDEX TO -7.  NORTHWESTERLY MID LEVEL WINDS
OF 30-40 KT KNOTS ARE INDICATED BY VAD AND PROFILERS INDICATING
SUFFICIENT SHEAR TO MAINTAIN THREAT OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS INTO
THE EARLY MORNING HOURS. 


AVIATION...A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL SURFACE AND ALOFT
TO 2 1/2 INCHES.  EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND GUSTS TO 70
KNOTS.  A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 550.  MEAN STORM
MOTION VECTOR 29030.


...WEISS

345,0895 350,0860 331,0860 331,0895

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 27, 4:45 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Colbert, Franklin, Lamar, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone and 1 more	4 hr
May 27, 11:15 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Russell	6 hr
May 27, 11:30 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Baldwin, Barbour, Bullock, Butler, Choctaw, Clarke and 16 more	6 hr
May 26, 9:00 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	DeSoto	6 hr
May 27, 2:45 AM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Bolivar, Coahoma, DeSoto, Marshall, Panola, Quitman and 5 more	5 hr

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Mississippi, 1997 Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Alabama, 1997 Every severe thunderstorm watch 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.