Alert archive / Mississippi / Tornado Watches in 1997
Tornado Watch 770
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Oct 25, 1997, 3:45 PM CDT for 21 counties in Alabama; 10 parishes in Louisiana; 27 counties in Mississippi. It was in force for 5 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Oct 25, 1997, 3:45 PM CDT (20:45 UTC)
- Expired
- Oct 25, 1997, 9:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 5 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 58 counties
Autauga County, AL, Baldwin County, AL, Butler County, AL, Choctaw County, AL, Clarke County, AL, Coffee County, AL, Conecuh County, AL, Covington County, AL, Crenshaw County, AL, Dallas County, AL, Elmore County, AL, Escambia County, AL, Geneva County, AL, Lowndes County, AL, Marengo County, AL, Mobile County, AL, Monroe County, AL, Montgomery County, AL, Pike County, AL, Washington County, AL, Wilcox County, AL, Ascension Parish, LA, East Baton Rouge Parish, LA, East Feliciana Parish, LA, Livingston Parish, LA, Saint Helena Parish, LA, Saint John the Baptist Parish, LA, Saint Tammany Parish, LA, Tangipahoa Parish, LA, Washington Parish, LA, West Baton Rouge Parish, LA, Amite 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, Jasper County, MS, Jefferson County, MS, Jefferson Davis County, MS, Jones County, MS, Lamar County, MS, Lawrence County, MS, Lincoln County, MS, Marion County, MS, Pearl River County, MS, Perry County, MS, Pike County, MS, Simpson County, MS, Smith County, MS, Stone County, MS, Walthall County, MS, Wayne County, MS, Wilkinson County, MS
Warnings issued inside it
14 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 25, 4:12 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MOB | Perry, Stone | 63 min |
| Oct 25, 4:26 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MOB | George, Greene | 64 min |
| Oct 25, 4:30 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Clarke | 60 min |
| Oct 25, 5:19 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Wilcox | 56 min |
| Oct 25, 5:26 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MOB | George | 49 min |
| Oct 25, 5:36 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MOB | Mobile | 69 min |
| Oct 25, 6:15 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | TAE | Coffee, Dale | 45 min |
| Oct 25, 6:24 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Wilcox | 51 min |
| Oct 25, 6:27 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MOB | Baldwin | 63 min |
| Oct 25, 6:39 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MOB | Mobile | 36 min |
| Oct 25, 6:50 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Butler | 40 min |
| Oct 25, 7:35 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Escambia | 40 min |
| Oct 25, 7:58 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Conecuh | 62 min |
| Oct 25, 8:52 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Montgomery | 48 min |
The nearest sounding before it
Jackson, MS (KJAN), launched 12:00Z, 8.8 hours before the alert went out and 128 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
- 2580 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -1 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 503 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 45 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 109 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 90 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 1.8
- Supercell composite
- 8.2
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
160 WWUS9 KMKC 252026 SEL0 MKC WW 252026 LAZ000-MSZ000-ALZ000-FLZ000-260200- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 770 STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 326 PM CDT SAT OCT 25 1997 THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI SOUTHERN ALABAMA WESTERN FLORIDA PANHANDLE AND ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS EFFECTIVE THIS SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 345 PM UNTIL 900 PM CDT. TORNADOES...HAIL TO 1 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 80 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS. THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 65 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 30 MILES NORTH NORTHWEST OF BATON ROUGE LOUISIANA TO 15 MILES EAST NORTHEAST OF TROY ALABAMA. 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. OTHER WATCH INFORMATION... CONTINUE...WW 765...WW 766...WW 767...WW 768...WW 769... DISCUSSION...VERY RICH GULF INFLOW /DEWPOINTS IN THE MID 70S/... AND INCREASING LOW LEVEL SHEAR ARE CREATING FAVORABLE ENVIRONMENT FOR SUPERCELLS AND TORNADOES OVER THE ENTIRE CENTRAL GULF COAST REGION. HIGH LEVEL SHEAR ALSO BEING ENHANCED BY CONTINUING PRESENCE OF 100 KT UPPER LEVEL JET ACROSS REGION. AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 1 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 520. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24535. ...CORFIDI 315,0912 325,0854 305,0854 295,0912
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 25, 8:30 AM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Blount, Calhoun, Cherokee, Cleburne, Colbert, Cullman and 18 more | 7 hr |
| Oct 25, 9:00 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Cleburne | 6 hr |
| Oct 25, 1:30 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Barbour, Bullock, Butler, Coffee, Conecuh, Covington and 13 more | 7 hr |
| Oct 25, 3:00 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Colbert, Fayette, Franklin, Lamar, Lauderdale, Marion and 2 more | 6 hr |
| Oct 25, 4:15 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Barbour, Bullock, Chambers, Dale, Henry, Houston and 3 more | 5 hr |
| Oct 25, 12:30 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Caddo | 7 hr |
| Oct 25, 2:45 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Caldwell, Catahoula, Claiborne and 19 more | 6 hr |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Mississippi, 1997Tornado Watches in Alabama, 1997Tornado Watches in Louisiana, 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.