Alert archive / Mississippi / Tornado Watches in 2002

Tornado Watch 735

November 5, 20024 states

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Nov 5, 2002, 9:50 AM CST for 4 states. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Nov 5, 2002, 9:50 AM CST (15:50 UTC)
Expired: Nov 5, 2002, 3:00 PM CST
In force: 5 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 30 counties

Baldwin County, AL, Butler County, AL, Clarke County, AL, Conecuh County, AL, Covington County, AL, Crenshaw County, AL, Escambia County, AL, Mobile County, AL, Monroe County, AL, Washington County, AL, Escambia County, FL, Santa Rosa County, FL, Jefferson Parish, LA, Lafourche Parish, LA, Orleans Parish, LA, Plaquemines Parish, LA, Saint Bernard Parish, LA, Saint Tammany Parish, LA, Forrest County, MS, George County, MS, Greene County, MS, Hancock County, MS, Harrison County, MS, Jackson County, MS, Jones County, MS, Lamar County, MS, Pearl River County, MS, Perry County, MS, Stone County, MS, Wayne County, MS

The radar

The Mobile radar (KMOB), 81 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 15:51 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.

Warnings issued inside it

17 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Nov 5, 9:56 AM CST	Tornado Warning	LIX	Jefferson, Saint Charles	49 days
Nov 5, 10:08 AM CST	Tornado Warning	MOB	Clarke	3 hr
Nov 5, 10:10 AM CST	Tornado Warning	LIX	Jefferson, Orleans, Plaquemines, Saint Bernard	56 days
Nov 5, 10:10 AM CST	Tornado Warning	LIX	Jefferson	35 min
Nov 5, 10:22 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LIX	Lafourche	38 min
Nov 5, 10:31 AM CST	Tornado Warning	LIX	Jefferson, Lafourche, Plaquemines	44 min
Nov 5, 11:06 AM CST	Tornado Warning	MOB	Escambia	3 hr
Nov 5, 11:08 AM CST	Tornado Warning	LIX	Plaquemines, Saint Bernard	37 min
Nov 5, 11:18 AM CST	Tornado Warning	MOB	Conecuh	6 days
Nov 5, 11:18 AM CST	Tornado Warning	MOB	Escambia	6 days
Nov 5, 11:42 AM CST	Tornado Warning	MOB	Butler	6 days
Nov 5, 11:46 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LIX	Plaquemines	44 min
Nov 5, 11:52 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LIX	Harrison, Jackson	38 min
Nov 5, 12:05 PM CST	Tornado Warning	LIX	Jackson	40 min
Nov 5, 12:40 PM CST	Tornado Warning	MOB	Crenshaw	6 days
Nov 5, 1:32 PM CST	Tornado Warning	MOB	Baldwin	10 days
Nov 5, 2:43 PM CST	Tornado Warning	MOB	Escambia, Santa Rosa	44 days

The nearest sounding before it

Slidell Radar S, LA (KSIL), launched 12:00Z, 3.8 hours before the alert went out and 81 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: 608 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -9 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 556 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 20 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 41 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 66 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WWUS20 KWNS 051547
SEL5  
SPC WW 051540
ALZ000-FLZ000-LAZ000-MSZ000-CWZ000-052100-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 735
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
940 AM CST TUE NOV 5 2002

THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF

   SOUTHERN ALABAMA                            
   WESTERN FLORIDA PANHANDLE                            
   SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA                          
   SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI                        
   COASTAL WATERS                     

EFFECTIVE THIS TUESDAY MORNING AND AFTERNOON FROM 940 AM UNTIL 300
PM CST.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 0.5 INCH IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 60 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 95 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 25 MILES SOUTH SOUTHEAST OF BOOTHVILLE LOUISIANA TO
100 MILES EAST NORTHEAST OF LAUREL MISSISSIPPI.

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. 
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...THIS TORNADO WATCH REPLACES TORNADO WATCH
NUMBER 735.  WATCH NUMBER 735 WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER 940 AM
CST.  CONTINUE...WW 734...

DISCUSSION...ISOLATED TORNADOES POSSIBLE THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON AS
CONVECTIVE BAND ASSOCIATED WITH SRN STREAM SHORTWAVE TROUGH
CONTINUES EWD.  WHILE LOW LEVEL FLOW HAS VEERED AHEAD IN SRN PART
OF WW...RICH GULF MOISTURE INFLOW AND SURFACE HEATING MAY LEAD TO
INCREASED LOW LEVEL DESTABILIZATION.  GREATER LOW LEVEL DIRECTIONAL
SHEAR WILL EXIST FARTHER N...BUT CLOUDS/RAIN WILL LIKELY LIMIT
UPDRAFT STRENGTH.  LARGE SCALE ASCENT OVER REGION MAY BE ENHANCED
LATER TODAY BY CONTINUED NE MOVEMENT OF UPPER IMPULSE NOW OVER E
TX.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 0.5 INCH...EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 50 KNOTS.  A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500. 
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 22035.

...CORFIDI

285,0904 321,0891 321,0855 285,0874

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Nov 5, 12:35 PM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	Barbour, Bullock, Chambers, Coffee, Covington, Crenshaw and 9 more	5 hr
Nov 5, 5:50 PM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	Barbour, Dale, Geneva, Henry, Houston, Russell	5 hr
Nov 5, 4:25 AM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	Ascension, Assumption, Avoyelles, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Iberia and 20 more	6 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Mississippi, 2002 Tornado Watches in Alabama, 2002 Tornado Watches in Louisiana, 2002 Every tornado watch 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.