Alert archive / Mississippi / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 126, NWS Memphis, TN

May 17, 2003Tippah County, Mississippi

NWS Memphis, TN issued this tornado warning at May 17, 2003, 5:55 AM CDT for Tippah County, Mississippi. It was in force for 35 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 17, 2003, 5:55 AM CDT (10:55 UTC)
Expired: May 17, 2003, 6:30 AM CDT
In force: 35 min
Issued by: NWS Memphis, TN
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Tippah County, MS

The nearest sounding before it

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 00:00Z, 10.9 hours before the alert went out and 256 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: 625 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -23 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 946 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 24 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 95 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.1
Supercell composite: 0.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS54 KMEG 171055
TORMEM
MSC139-171130-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
555 AM CDT SAT MAY 17 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  TIPPAH COUNTY IN NORTHEAST MISSISSIPPI

* UNTIL 630 AM CDT.

* AT 550 AM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 14 MILES WEST OF
  RIPLEY...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH.

* CITIES IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO THROUGH 630 AM CDT INCLUDE...
  RIPLEY...
  FALKNER...
  WALNUT...

.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 BROADCAST FOR THE LATEST UPDATES AND INFORMATION.
TO REPORT SEVERE WEATHER ONLY...CALL 1 800 4 3 2 0 8 7 5.

LAT...LON 3490 8903 3466 8908 3470 8873 3501 8881

$$

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 16, 10:10 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MEG	DeSoto	65 min
May 16, 11:03 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Marshall	42 min
May 16, 11:32 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Benton	43 min
May 17, 12:06 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Tippah	24 min
May 17, 12:14 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Alcorn	46 min
May 17, 4:07 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	MEG	Coahoma	113 min
May 17, 5:28 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	MEG	Benton, Marshall	47 min
May 17, 5:46 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	MEG	Lafayette	44 min
May 17, 5:54 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	MEG	DeSoto	2 hr
May 17, 6:09 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	MEG	Panola, Quitman, Tate, Tunica	2 hr
May 17, 6:17 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Alcorn	28 min
May 17, 6:20 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	MEG	Union	40 min
May 17, 6:45 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Alcorn	30 min
May 17, 7:35 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	MEG	Lafayette, Union	115 min
May 17, 8:04 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Pontotoc	26 min
May 17, 8:36 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Itawamba, Lee	24 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Mississippi, 2003 Every tornado warning in 2003 Tornadoes in 2003

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.