Alert archive / Alabama / Mesoscale Discussions in 2003

Mesoscale Discussion 1048

May 17, 200339 counties in Alabama; 6 parishes in Louisiana; 35 counties in Mississippi

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at May 17, 2003, 1:50 PM CDT for 39 counties in Alabama; 6 parishes in Louisiana; 35 counties in Mississippi. It was in force for 115 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 17, 2003, 1:50 PM CDT (18:50 UTC)
Expired
May 17, 2003, 3:45 PM CDT
In force
115 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 80 counties

Autauga County, AL, Barbour County, AL, Bibb County, AL, Bullock County, AL, Butler County, AL, Calhoun County, AL, Chambers County, AL, Cherokee County, AL, Chilton County, AL, Choctaw County, AL, Clarke County, AL, Clay County, AL, Cleburne County, AL, Conecuh County, AL, Coosa County, AL, Crenshaw County, AL, Dallas County, AL, Elmore County, AL, Etowah County, AL, Greene County, AL, Hale County, AL, Jefferson County, AL, Lee County, AL, Lowndes County, AL, Macon County, AL, Marengo County, AL, Monroe County, AL, Montgomery County, AL, Perry County, AL, Pike County, AL, Randolph County, AL, Shelby County, AL, St. Clair County, AL, Sumter County, AL, Talladega County, AL, Tallapoosa County, AL, Tuscaloosa County, AL, Washington County, AL, Wilcox County, AL, East Feliciana Parish, LA, Pointe Coupee Parish, LA, Saint Helena Parish, LA, Tangipahoa Parish, LA, Washington Parish, LA, West Feliciana Parish, LA, Adams County, MS, Amite County, MS, Claiborne County, MS, Clarke County, MS, Copiah County, MS, Covington County, MS, Forrest County, MS, Franklin County, MS, Greene County, MS, Hinds County, MS, Jasper County, MS, Jefferson County, MS, Jefferson Davis County, MS, Jones County, MS, Kemper County, MS, Lamar County, MS, Lauderdale County, MS, Lawrence County, MS, Leake County, MS, Lincoln County, MS, Madison County, MS, Marion County, MS, Neshoba County, MS, Newton County, MS, Noxubee County, MS, Pearl River County, MS, Perry County, MS, Pike County, MS, Rankin County, MS, Scott County, MS, Simpson County, MS, Smith County, MS, Walthall County, MS, Wayne County, MS, Wilkinson County, MS

The watches that followed

Watches SPC issued over any of the same counties within four hours of this discussion.

The nearest sounding before it

Jackson, MS (KJAN), launched 12:00Z, 6.8 hours before the alert went out and 108 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Jackson, MS at 12:00Z on 2003-05-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1346 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Jackson, MS at 12:00Z on 2003-05-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 345 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
1346 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-41 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
648 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
345 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
339 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
2.3
Supercell composite
14.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

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SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 16, 11:41 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCColbert, Cullman, DeKalb, Franklin, Jackson, Lauderdale and 6 more94 min
May 17, 12:55 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBlount, Colbert, Cullman, Franklin, Lauderdale, Lawrence and 6 more4 hr
May 17, 2:37 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBlount, Cullman, Franklin, Lamar, Lawrence, Limestone and 5 more53 min
May 17, 7:48 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBibb, Chilton, Choctaw, Clarke, Dallas, Fayette and 14 more57 min
May 17, 9:20 AM CDTTornado WatchSPCBibb, Blount, Cherokee, Choctaw, Colbert, Cullman and 25 more6 hr
May 17, 10:45 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAutauga, Barbour, Bullock, Butler, Calhoun, Chambers and 20 more90 min
May 17, 2:25 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCAutauga, Bibb, Blount, Butler, Calhoun, Cherokee and 28 more8 hr
May 16, 8:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCSabine4 hr
May 16, 8:14 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBienville, Bossier, Caddo, Claiborne, De Soto, Jackson and 8 more2 hr
May 16, 8:38 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCaldwell, East Carroll, Franklin, Madison, Morehouse, Ouachita and 3 more97 min
May 17, 4:45 AM CDTTornado WatchSPCCaldwell, Catahoula, East Carroll, Franklin, LaSalle, Madison and 6 more5 hr
May 17, 6:37 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCaldwell, Catahoula, East Carroll, Franklin, LaSalle, Madison and 3 more83 min
May 17, 3:00 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCEast Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Madison, Saint Helena, Tangipahoa, Tensas and 3 more5 hr
May 17, 6:04 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCEast Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Saint Helena, Tangipahoa, Washington116 min
May 16, 9:35 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCAlcorn, Attala, Benton, Bolivar, Calhoun, Carroll and 25 more6 hr
May 17, 1:54 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAttala, Calhoun, Carroll, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Grenada and 12 more66 min
May 17, 5:42 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlcorn, Benton, Itawamba, Lafayette, Lee, Marshall and 7 more63 min

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Alabama, 2003Mesoscale Discussions in Mississippi, 2003Mesoscale Discussions in Louisiana, 2003Every mesoscale discussion 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.