Alert archive / Mississippi / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 6, NWS Memphis, TN

April 8, 1998Pontotoc County, Mississippi

NWS Memphis, TN issued this tornado warning at Apr 8, 1998, 6:09 PM CDT for Pontotoc County, Mississippi. It was in force for 31 min. 4 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, 6:09 PM CDT (23:09 UTC)
Expired: Apr 8, 1998, 6:40 PM CDT
In force: 31 min
Issued by: NWS Memphis, TN
Area: Whole counties

County Pontotoc County, MS

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Apr 8, 6:12 PM CDT	Hail 1.75	Ecru, MS	Hail ranging from quarter to golfball size fell on Ecru.
Apr 8, 6:25 PM CDT	Hail 1.75	Sherman, MS	Quarter size hail fell in the Sherman area while golf ball size hail fell in Thaxton.
Apr 8, 6:25 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Thaxton, MS	One person was killed when his mobile home was demolished. One house had its windows blown out of it. A shed lost its roof. Two mobile homes and one house were damaged. A horse was killed in the storm. Numerous trees were blown down.
Apr 8, 6:50 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 55	Friendship, MS	Several trees were knocked down.

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, 11.2 hours before the alert went out and 107 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.

000 
TTAA00 KMEM 082309 RRA
TORMEM
MSC115-082340-

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


THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS TN HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 640 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN NORTHEASTERN MISSISSIPPI

   ...PONTOTOC COUNTY

AT 605 PM DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH
A POSSIBLE TORNADO MOVING INTO THE WEST PART OF PONTOTOC COUNTY.  AT
605 PM THE POSSIBLE TORNADO WAS INDICATED JUST NORTHEAST OF TULA IN
LAFAYETTE COUNTY.  MOVING EAST NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH .. THE STORM AND
POSSIBLE TORNADO WILL MOVE NEAR THAXTON BETWEEN 615 PM AND 625 PM
AND NEAR ECRU AROUND 625 TO 640 PM.

.IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT. GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO
BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SAFETY IN AN INTERIOR ROOM SUCH AS A
CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. USE BLANKETS...PIDLLOWS...OR CUSHIONS TO
COVER YOUR BODY. AVOID WINDOWS.

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, 5:59 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MEG	Lafayette	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.