Alert archive / Mississippi / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 117, NWS Memphis, TN

May 26, 2002Quitman County, Mississippi

NWS Memphis, TN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 26, 2002, 3:41 PM CDT for Quitman County, Mississippi. It was in force for 34 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: May 26, 2002, 3:41 PM CDT (20:41 UTC)
Expired: May 26, 2002, 4:15 PM CDT
In force: 34 min
Issued by: NWS Memphis, TN
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Quitman County, MS

The radar

The Memphis radar (KNQA), 109 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:44 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.

Did it verify

Not verified. The Iowa Environmental Mesonet's Cow found no qualifying storm report inside this severe thunderstorm warning while it was in force. That is not proof nothing happened: reports are thin where few people live.

Cow counts a report within 15 km of the polygon while the warning was in force: a tornado for a tornado warning; hail of 1 inch or more, a gust of 58 mph or more or wind damage for a severe thunderstorm warning; a flash flood report for a flash flood warning.

The nearest sounding before it

Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 12:00Z, 8.7 hours before the alert went out and 55 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: 640 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -84 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 616 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 144 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 156 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 
WUUS54 KMEG 262041
SVRMEM
MSC119-262100-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
335 PM CDT SUN MAY 26 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  NORTHERN QUITMAN COUNTY IN NORTHWEST MISSISSIPPI
  SOUTHERN TUNICA COUNTY IN NORTHWEST MISSISSIPPI
  PANOLA COUNTY IN NORTHWEST MISSISSIPPI

* UNTIL 415 PM CDT.

* AT 331 PM CDT...WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM EAST 
  OF LULA TO SLEDGE TO CURTIS STATION...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 5 MPH.

* CITIES IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM THROUGH 400 PM CDT INCLUDE...     
  SLEDGE...CRENSHAW...CURTIS STATION AND PLEASANT GROVE.

* LARGE HAIL IS LIKELY WITH THIS STORM ALONG WITH DAMAGING WINDS.

LAT...LON 3447 9043 3435 9036 3439 9020 3452 9022

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Memphis, TN wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at May 26, 3:00 PM CDT, 41 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 26, 3:00 PM CDT, 41 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
300 PM CDT SUN MAY 26 2002

A WEAK STATIONARY FRONT EXTENDED ACROSS THE MIDDLE OF THE CWFA BUT
IS WEAKENING WITH TIME. EXPECT THIS BOUNDARY TO DISSIPATE BY
TONIGHT. PLENTY OF MOISTURE AND INSTABILITY WILL KEEP SCT TSTMS
AROUND THROUGH THE EVENING HOURS BEFORE DISSIPATION OCCURS FROM THE
LOSS OF DAYTIME HEATING.

THE WIND PATTERN WILL BE VERY WEAK OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS...SO
THERE WILL BE NOTHING TO DRIVE OUT THE EXISTING MOISTURE IN PLACE.
HOWEVER...WITH THE LACK OF DYNAMICS MON...THE CHC OF TSTMS WILL BE
QUITE LOW...BUT BELIEVE THERE WILL BE ENOUGH DAYTIME INSTABILITY TO
TRIGGER AN ISOLATED PM TSTM.

A BROAD UPPER TROUGH WILL APPROACH REGION FROM THE W LATE TUE AND
BE OVER THE LWR MS VALLEY THROUGH EARLY FRI. THE MAIN DYNAMICS OF
THE TROUGH WILL STAY TO OUR W...BUT ENOUGH INSTABILITY FROM COOLING
ALOFT COMBINED WITH EXISTING MOISTURE WILL FUEL AFTERNOON AND
EVENING TSTMS THROUGH THAT PERIOD. THE TROUGH SHOULD MOVE TO THE E
BY FRI NITE AND GIVE WAY TO A SUB-TROPICAL RIDGE SAT-SUN. AS A
RESULT...NEXT WEEKEND SHOULD BE WARMER AND DRIER WITH TEMPS POSSIBLY
APPROACHING 90 DEG F.

PRELIM VALUES...
MEM 68/86/70/86/69/85 221323
MKL 64/85/65/86/65/85 221213
JBR 64/85/66/86/67/85 221323
TUP 65/86/66/86/66/85 221213

.MEG...NONE.

SWC

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 26, 4:21 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Union	39 min
May 26, 5:09 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Tate	36 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Mississippi, 2002 Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2002

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.