Alert archive / Mississippi / Tornado Watches in 1997

Tornado Watch 87

March 2, 1997Choctaw County, Sumter County, Alabama; 26 parishes in Louisiana; 46 counties in Mississippi

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Mar 2, 1997, 4:00 PM CST for Choctaw County, Sumter County, Alabama; 26 parishes in Louisiana; 46 counties in Mississippi. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Mar 2, 1997, 4:00 PM CST (22:00 UTC)
Expired: Mar 2, 1997, 10:00 PM CST
In force: 6 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 74 counties

Choctaw County, AL, Sumter County, AL, Allen Parish, LA, Avoyelles Parish, LA, Bienville Parish, LA, Caldwell Parish, LA, Catahoula Parish, LA, Concordia Parish, LA, East Carroll Parish, LA, Evangeline Parish, LA, Franklin Parish, LA, Grant Parish, LA, Jackson Parish, LA, Jefferson Davis Parish, LA, LaSalle Parish, LA, Lincoln Parish, LA, Madison Parish, LA, Morehouse Parish, LA, Ouachita Parish, LA, Pointe Coupee Parish, LA, Rapides Parish, LA, Richland Parish, LA, Saint Landry Parish, LA, Tensas Parish, LA, Union Parish, LA, West Carroll Parish, LA, West Feliciana Parish, LA, Winn Parish, LA, Adams County, MS, Amite County, MS, Attala County, MS, Carroll County, MS, Chickasaw County, MS, Choctaw County, MS, Claiborne County, MS, Clarke County, MS, Clay County, MS, Copiah County, MS, Covington County, MS, Franklin County, MS, Hinds County, MS, Holmes County, MS, Humphreys County, MS, Issaquena County, MS, Jasper County, MS, Jefferson County, MS, Jefferson Davis County, MS, Jones County, MS, Kemper County, MS, Lauderdale County, MS, Lawrence County, MS, Leake County, MS, Leflore County, MS, Lincoln County, MS, Lowndes County, MS, Madison County, MS, Monroe County, MS, Montgomery County, MS, Neshoba County, MS, Newton County, MS, Noxubee County, MS, Oktibbeha County, MS, Pike County, MS, Rankin County, MS, Scott County, MS, Sharkey County, MS, Simpson County, MS, Smith County, MS, Warren County, MS, Washington County, MS, Webster County, MS, Wilkinson County, MS, Winston County, MS, Yazoo County, MS

Warnings issued inside it

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 2, 4:16 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAN	Attala	44 min
Mar 2, 4:28 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAN	Carroll, Montgomery	47 min
Mar 2, 4:57 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAN	Choctaw	48 min
Mar 2, 5:14 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAN	Carroll	31 min
Mar 2, 5:17 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAN	Yazoo	43 min
Mar 2, 5:46 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAN	Holmes	44 min
Mar 2, 6:17 PM CST	Flash Flood Warning	JAN	Yazoo	3 hr
Mar 2, 6:23 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAN	Carroll	37 min
Mar 2, 6:34 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAN	Montgomery	26 min
Mar 2, 6:51 PM CST	Flash Flood Warning	JAN	Carroll, Holmes	3 hr
Mar 2, 6:57 PM CST	Flash Flood Warning	MEG	Calhoun, Chickasaw, Pontotoc	3 hr
Mar 2, 7:11 PM CST	Flash Flood Warning	JAN	Montgomery, Webster	3 hr
Mar 2, 8:44 PM CST	Flash Flood Warning	JAN	Leflore	3 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Jackson, MS (KJAN), launched 12:00Z, 10.0 hours before the alert went out and 97 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: 667 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -7 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 599 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 49 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 174 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 202 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.7
Supercell composite: 3.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

016 
WWUS9 KMKC 022154
SEL7  
MKC WW 022154
LAZ000-MSZ000-030400-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 87
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
354 PM CST SUN MAR 2 1997

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

   A LARGE PART OF LOUISIANA                          
   MUCH OF CENTRAL AND NORTHERN MISSISSIPPI                       

EFFECTIVE THIS SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING UNTIL 1000 PM CST.

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


THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 85 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND
SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 45 MILES WEST OF ALEXANDRIA LOUISIANA TO 40
MILES SOUTH SOUTHEAST OF COLUMBUS AFB 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.

B..OTHER WATCH INFORMATION.. THIS TORNADO WATCH REPLACES TORNADO
WATCH NUMBER 85...TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 86.  WATCH NUMBER 85...86
WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER 400 PM CST.
$$

C...TORNADOES AND A FEW SVR TSTMS WITH HAIL SFC AND ALF TO 1 3/4
INCHES.  EXTRM TURBC AND SFC WIND GUSTS TO 75 KNOTS.  A FEW CBS
WITH MAX TOPS TO 500.  MEAN WIND VECTOR 24045.

D...SETUP FVRBL FOR TORNADOES THIS EVE ALG FNT STALLED ENE/WSW ACRS
THE LR MS VLY.  SFC PRES FALL DATA SUG LO ATTM NR AEX SHUD DEEPEN
AND MOV ENE ALG BNDRY INTO CNTRL/NE MS.  INCRG VERT SHEAR WITH
TIME...PROVIDED BY MIDLVL SPD MAX IN EXCESS OF 75 KTS...WL ENHANCE
POTENTIAL FOR SUPERCELLS IN AMS WITH DWPTS IN THE UPR 60S/LO 70S. 

E...OTR TSTMS... THIS WATCH REPLACES..WW 85..WW 86..

...CORFIDI

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 2, 1:15 PM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	Choctaw	6 hr
Mar 2, 9:45 AM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	Acadia, Allen, Beauregard, Bienville, Calcasieu, Cameron and 15 more	6 hr
Mar 1, 9:00 PM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	Alcorn, Benton, Bolivar, Calhoun, Coahoma, DeSoto and 19 more	6 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Mississippi, 1997 Tornado Watches in Louisiana, 1997 Tornado Watches in Alabama, 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.