Alert archive / Mississippi / Tornado Watches in 2002
Tornado Watch 787
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Dec 18, 2002, 5:50 PM CST for 4 states. It was in force for 3 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Dec 18, 2002, 5:50 PM CST (23:50 UTC)
- Expired
- Dec 18, 2002, 9:00 PM CST
- In force
- 3 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 41 counties
Chicot County, AR, Crittenden County, AR, Desha County, AR, Lee County, AR, Mississippi County, AR, Phillips County, AR, St. Francis County, AR, Dunklin County, MO, Pemiscot County, MO, Benton County, MS, Bolivar County, MS, Carroll County, MS, Coahoma County, MS, DeSoto County, MS, Grenada County, MS, Holmes County, MS, Humphreys County, MS, Lafayette County, MS, Leflore County, MS, Marshall County, MS, Panola County, MS, Quitman County, MS, Sunflower County, MS, Tallahatchie County, MS, Tate County, MS, Tunica County, MS, Washington County, MS, Yalobusha County, MS, Crockett County, TN, Dyer County, TN, Fayette County, TN, Gibson County, TN, Hardeman County, TN, Haywood County, TN, Lake County, TN, Lauderdale County, TN, Madison County, TN, Obion County, TN, Shelby County, TN, Tipton County, TN, Weakley County, TN
The radar
The Memphis radar (KNQA), 112 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:49 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
6 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 18, 5:50 PM CST | Tornado Warning | LZK | Desha | 45 min |
| Dec 18, 6:14 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Dunklin | 46 min |
| Dec 18, 6:31 PM CST | Tornado Warning | MEG | Phillips | 44 min |
| Dec 18, 6:59 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Dunklin, Pemiscot | 46 min |
| Dec 18, 7:47 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | St. Francis | 43 min |
| Dec 18, 8:58 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Crittenden | 32 min |
The nearest sounding before it
Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 12:00Z, 11.8 hours before the alert went out and 60 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
- 30 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -209 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 597 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 60 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 290 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 365 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 WWUS20 KWNS 182354 SEL7 SPC WW 182350 ARZ000-MSZ000-TNZ000-190300- URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 787 STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 550 PM CST WED DEC 18 2002 THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF FAR EASTERN ARKANSAS NORTHWEST MISSISSIPPI WEST TENNESSEE EFFECTIVE THIS WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 550 PM UNTIL 900 PM CST. TORNADOES...HAIL TO 1 INCH IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS. THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 50 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 30 MILES SOUTH OF GREENVILLE MISSISSIPPI TO 40 MILES NORTH NORTHEAST OF DYERSBURG TENNESSEE. 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... CONTINUE...WW 784...WW 785...WW 786... DISCUSSION...SUPERCELLS IN E CNTRL AND NE AR EXPECTED TO CONTINUE NEWD INTO THE MS DELTA REGION AND FAR W TN LATER THIS EVENING... WHERE STRONG LOW LEVEL SHEAR /AOA 40 KT/ AND DEEP SHEAR /AOA 60 KT/ WILL REMAIN PRESENT. DRIER LOW LEVEL AIR SHOULD EVENTUALLY LIMIT EWD EXTENT OF SEVERE THREAT IN W TN. IN CONTRAST...TORNADO THREAT MAY BE ENHANCED DURING THE NEXT FEW HOURS FARTHER S...INVOF WEAK WARM FRONT WHICH ATTM EXTENDS FROM E OF LIT SE TO NEAR JAN. AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 1 INCH...EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 450. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 22045. ...CORFIDI 363,0881 330,0900 330,0915 363,0900
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 17, 7:35 PM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Benton, Boone, Carroll, Madison, Marion, Newton and 1 more | 5 hr |
| Dec 17, 10:40 PM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Benton, Carroll, Washington | 5 hr |
| Dec 18, 3:30 AM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Benton | 5 hr |
| Dec 18, 7:20 AM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Baxter, Boone, Carroll, Crawford, Franklin, Fulton and 12 more | 6 hr |
| Dec 18, 1:10 PM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Arkansas, Ashley, Bradley, Calhoun, Clark, Cleveland and 26 more | 8 hr |
| Dec 18, 2:30 PM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Baxter, Clay, Cleburne, Conway, Craighead, Crittenden and 18 more | 7 hr |
| Dec 18, 2:15 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Adair, Bates, Buchanan, Caldwell, Carroll, Cass and 29 more | 6 hr |
| Dec 18, 9:30 AM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Adair, Audrain, Barton, Benton, Boone, Callaway and 33 more | 6 hr |
| Dec 18, 4:35 PM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Crawford, Dent, Franklin, Gasconade, Jefferson, Laclede and 14 more | 5 hr |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Mississippi, 2002Tornado Watches in Tennessee, 2002Tornado Watches in Arkansas, 2002Every 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.