Alert archive / Mississippi / Tornado Warnings in 1999
Tornado Warning 111, NWS Memphis, TN
NWS Memphis, TN issued this tornado warning at May 5, 1999, 6:02 PM CDT for DeSoto County, Mississippi; Shelby County, Tennessee. It was in force for 33 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
- May 5, 1999, 6:02 PM CDT (23:02 UTC)
- Expired
- May 5, 1999, 6:35 PM CDT
- In force
- 33 min
- Issued by
- NWS Memphis, TN
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties DeSoto County, MS, Shelby County, TN
The radar
The Memphis radar (KNQA), 36 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:05 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.
Open the radar archive at this moment
The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 5, 6:10 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind | South Haven, MS | Three apartment buildings had roof damage near Olive Branch. Several trees , power lines and power poles were knocked down over much of the county. |
| May 5, 6:30 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Memphis, TN | A gas station had its awning blown down on top of a car. One house lost part of its siding. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 5, 2:00 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 7 hr |
| May 5, 5:00 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 4 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 12:00Z, 11.0 hours before the alert went out and 22 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
- 72 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -256 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1942 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 49 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 77 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 244 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 2.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KMEM 052301 RRA TORMEM MSC033-TNC157-052335- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN 602 PM CDT WED MAY 5 1999 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... DE SOTO COUNTY IN NORTHWESTERN MISSISSIPPI SHELBY COUNTY IN WESTERN TENNESSEE * UNTIL 635 PM CDT * AT 600 PM CDT... DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 5 MILES SOUTHWEST OF SOUTHWEST MEMPHIS... MOVING NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH. * THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR... WHITEHAVEN BY 605 PM CDT SOUTHWEST MEMPHIS BY 605 PM CDT DOWNTOWN MEMPHIS BY 610 PM CDT MIDTOWN MEMPHIS BY 615 PM CDT FRAYSER BY 615 PM CDT BARTLETT BY 625 PM CDT .A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT <FOR THE WARNED AREA. REMEMBER... SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING. REMAIN CALM BUT BE ALERT TO RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Memphis, TN issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 5, 10:25 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Calhoun, Yalobusha | 50 min |
| May 5, 5:25 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | DeSoto, Tunica | 45 min |
| May 5, 5:28 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Tallahatchie | 47 min |
| May 5, 5:53 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MEG | Panola, Tallahatchie | 32 min |
| May 5, 6:05 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Yalobusha | 35 min |
| May 5, 6:13 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MEG | Lafayette | 32 min |
| May 5, 6:39 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MEG | Marshall | 36 min |
| May 5, 6:44 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Lafayette | 46 min |
| May 5, 6:45 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Benton | 50 min |
| May 5, 12:47 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Shelby | 43 min |
| May 5, 1:09 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Fayette | 51 min |
| May 5, 1:52 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Hardeman | 38 min |
| May 5, 3:37 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Shelby | 48 min |
| May 5, 3:42 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Dyer, Lauderdale | 48 min |
| May 5, 4:17 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MEG | Shelby | 33 min |
| May 5, 4:43 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Haywood, Tipton | 47 min |
| May 5, 5:07 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Crockett, Gibson | 33 min |
| May 5, 5:21 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MEG | Crockett, Haywood | 34 min |
| May 5, 5:49 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Madison | 21 min |
| May 5, 5:58 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Shelby | 47 min |
| May 5, 6:00 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Carroll, Gibson | 50 min |
| May 5, 6:05 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Fayette | 50 min |
| May 5, 6:51 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Shelby, Tipton | 34 min |
| May 5, 6:54 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MEG | Hardeman, Madison | 36 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Mississippi, 1999Tornado Warnings in Tennessee, 1999Every tornado warning in 1999Tornadoes in 1999
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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.