Alert archive / Mississippi / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 37, NWS Memphis, TN

May 5, 2003DeSoto County, Mississippi

NWS Memphis, TN issued this tornado warning at May 5, 2003, 3:59 AM CDT for DeSoto County, Mississippi. It was in force for 31 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 5, 2003, 3:59 AM CDT (08:59 UTC)
Expired: May 5, 2003, 4:30 AM CDT
In force: 31 min
Issued by: NWS Memphis, TN
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County DeSoto County, MS

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
May 5, 1:20 AM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 00:00Z, 9.0 hours before the alert went out and 6 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: 2245 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -12 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 658 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 55 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 254 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 313 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 4.4
Supercell composite: 14.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

364 
WFUS54 KMEG 050859
TORMEM
MSC033-050930-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
359 AM CDT MON MAY 5 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 430 AM CDT.

* AT 357 AM CDT...WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 2 MILES NORTHWEST
  OF HERNANDO...MOVING EAST AT 50 MPH.

* CITIES IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO THROUGH 430 AM CDT INCLUDE...
  HERNANDO...
  LEWISBURG...

.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. TO REPORT SEVERE WEATHER ONLY...CALL 1 800 4
3 2 0 8 7 5.

LAT...LON 3496 9008 3480 9016 3479 8982 3489 8973

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 5, 3:23 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	DeSoto, Tunica	52 min
May 5, 4:17 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	MEG	Marshall	43 min
May 5, 4:51 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	MEG	Benton	39 min
May 5, 6:17 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Tunica	28 min
May 5, 6:32 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	DeSoto	43 min
May 5, 7:15 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Marshall	30 min
May 5, 7:34 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Benton	26 min
May 5, 7:38 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	MEG	Benton	37 min
May 5, 7:39 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	MEG	Benton	36 min
May 5, 8:02 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	MEG	Tippah	28 min
May 5, 8:27 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	MEG	Alcorn	63 min
May 5, 10:17 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Tallahatchie	28 min
May 5, 10:19 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Yalobusha	41 min
May 5, 3:47 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Calhoun	28 min
May 5, 3:50 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Calhoun	25 min
May 5, 4:11 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Tallahatchie	49 min
May 5, 4:14 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Calhoun, Chickasaw	46 min
May 5, 4:47 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Coahoma	28 min
May 5, 5:05 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MEG	Coahoma, Quitman	25 min
May 5, 5:18 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Calhoun	42 min
May 5, 5:27 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Coahoma, Quitman	48 min
May 5, 6:14 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Chickasaw	31 min
May 5, 6:37 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Monroe	23 min
May 5, 6:48 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Lee	42 min
May 5, 6:53 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Pontotoc	37 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.