Alert archive / Mississippi / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Memphis, TN

April 8, 1998Lafayette County, Mississippi

NWS Memphis, TN issued this tornado warning at Apr 8, 1998, 5:59 PM CDT for Lafayette County, Mississippi. It was in force for 31 min. 2 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: Apr 8, 1998, 5:59 PM CDT (22:59 UTC)
Expired: Apr 8, 1998, 6:30 PM CDT
In force: 31 min
Issued by: NWS Memphis, TN
Area: Whole counties

County Lafayette County, MS

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Apr 8, 6:20 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Lafayette Spgs, MS	Several trees were knocked down with one landing on a house.
Apr 8, 6:20 PM CDT	Hail 1.25	Denmark, MS

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in.

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Apr 8, 2:00 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 12:00Z, 11.0 hours before the alert went out and 68 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 2519 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 87 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 170 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 224 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

234 
WFUS1 KMEM 082258 RRA
TORMEM
MSC071-082330-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
559 PM CDT WED APR 8 1998


THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS TN HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 630 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN NORTHWESTERN MISSISSIPPI

   ...LAFAYETTE COUNTY

AT 555 PM DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO FORMING WITH THE
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER SOUTHERN LAFAYETTE COUNTY.  AT 555 PM ..
THE STRONGEST PART OF THE STORM WAS JUST NORTHWEST OF TULA AND WAS
MOVING TOWARD THE EAST NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH. THE STORM HAD STARTED
MOVING IN A MORE EASTERLY DIRECTION THAN EARLIER AND ON THAT TRACK
IT WILL MOVE BETWEEN TULA AND OXFORD BETWEEN 600 PM AND 610 PM AND
INTO THE DOGTOWN AND DENMARK AREAS BY 625 PM.

.DO NOT USE YOUR CAR TO TRY TO OUTRUN A TORNADO. CARS ARE EASILY
TOSSED AROUND BY TORNADO WINDS. IF YOU ARE CAUGHT IN THE PATH OF A
TORNADO...LEAVE THE CAR AND GO TO A STRONG BUILDING. IF NO STURDY
STRUCTURE IS NEARBY...SEEK SAFETY IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Memphis, TN issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 8, 8:34 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Coahoma	31 min
Apr 8, 9:05 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Coahoma, Quitman	50 min
Apr 8, 9:23 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	DeSoto	32 min
Apr 8, 5:04 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Alcorn	31 min
Apr 8, 5:44 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Lafayette	46 min
Apr 8, 6:09 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MEG	Pontotoc	31 min
Apr 8, 6:18 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Union	32 min
Apr 8, 6:21 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MEG	Union	34 min
Apr 8, 6:33 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MEG	Lee	32 min
Apr 8, 6:39 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MEG	Itawamba, Prentiss	46 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Mississippi, 1998 Every tornado warning in 1998 Tornadoes in 1998

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.