Alert archive / Mississippi / Tornado Watches in 1997
Tornado Watch 72
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Feb 28, 1997, 3:00 PM CST for 63 counties in Mississippi. It was in force for 6 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Feb 28, 1997, 3:00 PM CST (21:00 UTC)
- Expired
- Feb 28, 1997, 9:00 PM CST
- In force
- 6 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 63 counties
Alcorn County, MS, Amite County, MS, Attala County, MS, Benton County, MS, Calhoun County, MS, Carroll County, MS, Chickasaw County, MS, Choctaw County, MS, Claiborne County, MS, Clay County, MS, Copiah County, MS, Covington County, MS, DeSoto County, MS, Forrest County, MS, Franklin County, MS, Grenada County, MS, Hinds County, MS, Holmes County, MS, Humphreys County, MS, Itawamba County, MS, Jasper County, MS, Jefferson County, MS, Jefferson Davis County, MS, Jones County, MS, Lafayette County, MS, Lamar County, MS, Lawrence County, MS, Leake County, MS, Lee County, MS, Leflore County, MS, Lincoln County, MS, Madison County, MS, Marion County, MS, Marshall County, MS, Monroe County, MS, Montgomery County, MS, Neshoba County, MS, Newton County, MS, Oktibbeha County, MS, Panola County, MS, Pike County, MS, Pontotoc County, MS, Prentiss County, MS, Quitman County, MS, Rankin County, MS, Scott County, MS, Sharkey County, MS, Simpson County, MS, Smith County, MS, Sunflower County, MS, Tallahatchie County, MS, Tate County, MS, Tippah County, MS, Tishomingo County, MS, Tunica County, MS, Union County, MS, Walthall County, MS, Warren County, MS, Webster County, MS, Wilkinson County, MS, Winston County, MS, Yalobusha County, MS, Yazoo County, MS
Warnings issued inside it
6 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 28, 3:25 PM CST | Tornado Warning | JAN | Claiborne | 35 min |
| Feb 28, 3:39 PM CST | Tornado Warning | JAN | Hinds, Warren | 51 min |
| Feb 28, 4:20 PM CST | Tornado Warning | JAN | Hinds, Madison | 40 min |
| Feb 28, 4:22 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Sunflower | 38 min |
| Feb 28, 4:40 PM CST | Tornado Warning | JAN | Yazoo | 65 min |
| Feb 28, 5:25 PM CST | Tornado Warning | JAN | Attala, Holmes | 35 min |
The nearest sounding before it
Jackson, MS (KJAN), launched 12:00Z, 9.0 hours before the alert went out and 32 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
- 146 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -122 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 496 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 62 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 236 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 236 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 1.4
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
516 WWUS9 KMKC 282044 SEL2 MKC WW 282044 MSZ000-010300- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 72 STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 244 PM CST FRI FEB 28 1997 A...THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH FOR MOST OF MISSISSIPPI EFFECTIVE THIS FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING UNTIL 900 PM CST. TORNADOES...LARGE HAIL...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND DAMAGING THUNDERSTORM WINDS ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS. THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 65 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 15 MILES SOUTHEAST OF MC COMB MISSISSIPPI TO 45 MILES NORTH NORTHEAST OF OXFORD 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 2 INCHES. EXTRM TURBC AND SFC WIND GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS. A FEW CBS WITH MAX TOPS TO 500. MEAN WIND VECTOR 20040. D...CLUSTER OF THUNDERSTORMS INTENSIFYING AS IT MOVES INTO VERY UNSTABLE AIR MASS WHERE CAPES FROM 1500 TO 2500 J/KG. 40 TO 50 KT LOW LEVEL JET WILL PROVIDE FAVORABLE SHEAR FOR STORM ROTATION WITH TORNADIC POTENTIAL INCREASING AS CELLS APPROACH SURFACE BOUNDARY. E...OTR TSTMS... ...ROGASH
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Mississippi, 1997Every 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.