Alert archive / Mississippi / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 15, NWS Mobile, AL

April 17, 1998Perry County, Mississippi

NWS Mobile, AL issued this tornado warning at Apr 17, 1998, 6:41 PM CDT for Perry County, Mississippi. It was in force for 49 min. 1 report 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 17, 1998, 6:41 PM CDT (23:41 UTC)
Expired
Apr 17, 1998, 7:30 PM CDT
In force
49 min
Issued by
NWS Mobile, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Perry County, MS

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Apr 17, 7:15 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 60Janice, MSTrees and power lines were blown down from Janice to near Richton as another round of thunderstorms moved across southeast Mississippi. These storms did not have the large hail as the earlier storms but still had damaging winds.

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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Apr 17, 5:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Slidell Radar S, LA (KSIL), launched 12:00Z, 11.7 hours before the alert went out and 123 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Slidell Radar S, LA at 12:00Z on 1998-04-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1365 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Slidell Radar S, LA at 12:00Z on 1998-04-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 45 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
1365 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-125 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
613 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
51 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
45 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
26 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
0.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

848 
WFUS1 KMOB 172342 RRA
TORMOB
MSC111-180030-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
641 PM CDT FRI APR 17 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  PERRY COUNTY IN SOUTHEASTERN MISSISSIPPI

* UNTIL 730 PM CDT

* AT 639 PM CDT... A TORNADO WAS LOCATED 19 MILES SOUTHWEST OF NEW
  AUGUSTA OR 16 MILES SOUTHWEST OF BELLEVILLE... AS INDICATED BY
  DOPPLER RADAR... MOVING EAST 45 MPH.

* TORNADO WILL BE NEAR-
  BELLEVILLE AT 655 PM CDT
  MAHNED AT 700 PM CDT
  NEW AUGUSTA AT 705 PM CDT
  BEAUMONT AT 710 PM CDT
  HINTONVILLE AT 710 PM CDT

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...SEEK SAFETY IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...OR
CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY. STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Mobile, AL issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 17, 4:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBPerry69 min
Apr 17, 5:05 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBGreene60 min
Apr 17, 5:14 PM CDTTornado WarningMOBGreene, Perry61 min
Apr 17, 6:09 PM CDTTornado WarningMOBGreene61 min

Nearby

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