Alert archive / Mississippi / Tornado Warnings in 2001

Tornado Warning 17, NWS Memphis, TN

October 24, 2001Lafayette County, Mississippi

NWS Memphis, TN issued this tornado warning at Oct 24, 2001, 7:18 PM CDT for Lafayette County, Mississippi. It was in force for 42 min. 2 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline the Iowa Environmental Mesonet reconstructed for it; the warning itself named whole counties, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
Oct 24, 2001, 7:18 PM CDT (00:18 UTC)
Expired
Oct 24, 2001, 8:00 PM CDT
In force
42 min
Issued by
NWS Memphis, TN
Area
Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

County Lafayette County, MS

The radar

The Memphis radar (KNQA), 106 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:22 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Oct 24, 7:30 PM CDTThunderstorm WindAbbeville, MSNumerous trees and large tree limbs were blown down.
Oct 24, 7:45 PM CDTThunderstorm WindOxford, MSNumerous 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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Oct 24, 5:00 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 00:00Z, 0.3 hours before the alert went out and 59 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, Little Rock, AR at 00:00Z on 2001-10-25Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Little Rock, AR at 00:00Z on 2001-10-25The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -115 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1596 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
58 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-115 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
107 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.

044 
WFUS54 KMEG 250017
TORMEM
MSC071-250100-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
718 PM CDT WED OCT 24 2001

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  LAFAYETTE COUNTY IN NORTHWEST MISSISSIPPI

* UNTIL 800 PM CDT.

* AT 717 PM CDT...WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A DEVELOPING TORNADO 4
  MILES NORTHWEST OF OXFORD...MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH.

* CITIES IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO THROUGH 800 PM CDT INCLUDE...
  OXFORD...
  ABBEVILLE...
  CAMBRIDGE...
  DENMARK...

.IF YOU ARE NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO...TAKE COVER IN AN INTERIOR
ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. PROTECT YOUR BODY FROM FLYING DEBRIS.

.STAY TUNED TO THIS NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROADCAST FOR THE LATEST
UPDATES AND INFORMATION.

LAT...LON 3456 8971 3431 8971 3426 8923 3451 8924

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 24, 7:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGAlcorn42 min
Oct 24, 7:08 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGLafayette52 min
Oct 24, 7:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGPrentiss, Tishomingo62 min
Oct 24, 7:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGPontotoc62 min
Oct 24, 8:05 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGLee40 min
Oct 24, 8:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGItawamba, Monroe40 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Mississippi, 2001Every tornado warning in 2001Tornadoes in 2001

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.