Alert archive / Mississippi / Tornado Watches in 1997

Tornado Watch 141

April 5, 199718 parishes in Louisiana; 37 counties in Mississippi

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Apr 5, 1997, 9:00 AM CST for 18 parishes in Louisiana; 37 counties in Mississippi. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Apr 5, 1997, 9:00 AM CST (15:00 UTC)
Expired: Apr 5, 1997, 3:00 PM CST
In force: 6 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 55 counties

Ascension Parish, LA, Assumption Parish, LA, East Baton Rouge Parish, LA, East Feliciana Parish, LA, Jefferson Parish, LA, Lafourche Parish, LA, Livingston Parish, LA, Orleans Parish, LA, Plaquemines Parish, LA, Saint Bernard Parish, LA, Saint Charles Parish, LA, Saint Helena Parish, LA, Saint James Parish, LA, Saint John the Baptist Parish, LA, Saint Tammany Parish, LA, Tangipahoa Parish, LA, Terrebonne Parish, LA, Washington Parish, LA, Amite County, MS, Claiborne County, MS, Clarke County, MS, Copiah County, MS, Covington County, MS, Forrest County, MS, Franklin County, MS, George County, MS, Greene County, MS, Hancock County, MS, Harrison County, MS, Hinds County, MS, Jasper County, MS, Jefferson Davis County, MS, Jones County, MS, Kemper County, MS, Lamar County, MS, Lauderdale County, MS, Lawrence County, MS, Leake County, MS, Lincoln County, MS, Madison County, MS, Marion County, MS, Neshoba County, MS, Newton County, MS, Pearl River County, MS, Perry County, MS, Pike County, MS, Rankin County, MS, Scott County, MS, Simpson County, MS, Smith County, MS, Stone County, MS, Walthall County, MS, Warren County, MS, Wayne County, MS, Yazoo County, MS

Warnings issued inside it

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 5, 9:26 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LIX	Tangipahoa, Washington	49 min
Apr 5, 9:29 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAN	Scott	46 min
Apr 5, 9:42 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LIX	Pike, Walthall	48 min
Apr 5, 10:00 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAN	Leake, Neshoba	45 min
Apr 5, 10:09 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LIX	Saint Tammany, Washington	51 min
Apr 5, 10:20 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LIX	Pearl River	40 min
Apr 5, 11:51 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LIX	Harrison	54 min
Apr 5, 11:52 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAN	Clarke, Lauderdale	53 min
Apr 5, 11:53 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Stone	67 min
Apr 5, 11:56 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Perry	64 min
Apr 5, 12:15 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Wayne	45 min
Apr 5, 12:25 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Greene	65 min

The nearest sounding before it

Slidell Radar S, LA (KSIL), launched 12:00Z, 3.0 hours before the alert went out and 60 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: 356 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -29 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 503 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 50 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 411 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 442 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.6
Supercell composite: 4.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

364 
WWUS9 KMKC 051422
SEL1  
MKC WW 051422
LAZ000-MSZ000-052100-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 141
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
822 AM CST SAT APR 5 1997

A...THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR

   PARTS OF SOUTHERN AND EASTERN LOUISIANA                        
   A LARGE PART OF CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI               
   AND ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS

EFFECTIVE THIS SATURDAY MORNING AND AFTERNOON UNTIL 300 PM CST.

TORNADOES...LARGE HAIL...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND DAMAGING
THUNDERSTORM WINDS ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.


THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 75 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 45 MILES SOUTHEAST OF HOUMA LOUISIANA TO 60 MILES
NORTHWEST OF MERIDIAN MISSISSIPPI.

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND 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.
$$

C...TORNADOES AND A FEW SVR TSTMS WITH HAIL SFC AND ALF TO 1
INCHES.  EXTRM TURBC AND SFC WIND GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS.  A FEW CBS
WITH MAX TOPS TO 500.  MEAN WIND VECTOR 22540.

D...STM RELATIVE FLOW LKLY TO RMN FVRBL FOR THE DVLPMT OF ISOLD BOW
HEAD TORNADOES AS 25 KT SSELY NR-SFC JET CONTS TO ADVECT HI SFC
DWPTS INTO CNVTV LN ALG PREFNTL CNVGNC ZONE.

E...OTR TSTMS...  CONT..WW 139..WW 140 TIL 15Z.  A NEW WW FOR PARTS
OF NRN MS AND W TN WL BE ISSUED SHRTLY.

...CORFIDI

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 4, 10:30 PM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	Beauregard, Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Claiborne, De Soto and 10 more	6 hr
Apr 5, 2:30 AM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	Acadia, Allen, Ascension, Assumption, Avoyelles, Calcasieu and 41 more	7 hr
Apr 5, 3:15 AM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	Claiborne, Morehouse, Union	6 hr
Apr 5, 9:00 AM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	Alcorn, Attala, Benton, Calhoun, Carroll, Chickasaw and 25 more	6 hr
Apr 5, 1:00 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Jackson	4 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Mississippi, 1997 Tornado Watches in Louisiana, 1997 Every tornado 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.