Alert archive / Mississippi / Mesoscale Discussions in 2003

Mesoscale Discussion 1939

July 21, 200315 counties in Alabama; 18 counties in Mississippi

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Jul 21, 2003, 1:10 PM CDT for 15 counties in Alabama; 18 counties in Mississippi. It was in force for 95 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Jul 21, 2003, 1:10 PM CDT (18:10 UTC)
Expired
Jul 21, 2003, 2:45 PM CDT
In force
95 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 33 counties

Blount County, AL, Colbert County, AL, Cullman County, AL, DeKalb County, AL, Etowah County, AL, Franklin County, AL, Jackson County, AL, Lauderdale County, AL, Lawrence County, AL, Limestone County, AL, Madison County, AL, Marion County, AL, Marshall County, AL, Morgan County, AL, Winston County, AL, Alcorn County, MS, Benton County, MS, Calhoun County, MS, Chickasaw County, MS, Itawamba County, MS, Lafayette County, MS, Lee County, MS, Marshall County, MS, Monroe County, MS, Panola County, MS, Pontotoc County, MS, Prentiss County, MS, Quitman County, MS, Tate County, MS, Tippah County, MS, Tishomingo County, MS, Union County, MS, Yalobusha 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

Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 12:00Z, 6.2 hours before the alert went out and 153 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, Little Rock, AR at 12:00Z on 2003-07-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1960 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, Little Rock, AR at 12:00Z on 2003-07-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 53 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
1960 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-171 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1593 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
15 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
53 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
81 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

265 
ACUS11 KWNS 211810
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 211810 
ALZ000-MSZ000-211945-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 1939
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
0110 PM CDT MON JUL 21 2003

AREAS AFFECTED...NRN MS...NRN AL

CONCERNING...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL 

VALID 211810Z - 211945Z

LINE OF SEVERE STORMS FROM MIDDLE TN SWWD INTO SWRN TN IS EXPECTED
TO CONTINUE MOVING SEWD 25 KT TOWARD NERN MS/NWRN AL.  A NEW WATCH
WILL BE ISSUED ACROSS NRN MS/NRN AL WITHIN THE NEXT HOUR.

AIR MASS ACROSS THIS REGION IS VERY MOIST/EXTREMELY UNSTABLE WITH
SURFACE DEW POINTS IN MID/UPPER 70S AND SBCAPE GREATER THAN 4000
J/KG.  WATER VAPOR IMAGERY SHOWS LEADING EDGE OF MID/UPPER DRYING
MOVING SEWD INTO THE LOWER TN VALLEY SUGGESTING SRN END OF SHORT
WAVE TROUGH IS INFLUENCING THIS CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY.  STORMS ARE
EXPECTED TO INTENSIFY ALONG WRN PORTION OF THE THUNDERSTORM LINE
OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS...WITH THE LINE EXPECTED TO MOVE INTO
NRN MS/NRN AL THIS AFTERNOON.

..WEISS.. 07/21/2003

...PLEASE SEE WWW.SPC.NOAA.GOV FOR GRAPHIC PRODUCT...

ATTN...WFO...BMX...HUN...MEG...JAN...

33778864 33898978 34189050 34669016 34918923 35008713
34968570 33878570

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 21, 1:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBlount, Cherokee, Colbert, Cullman, DeKalb, Etowah and 13 more5 hr
Jul 21, 3:14 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBlount, Calhoun, Cherokee, Clay, Cleburne, Colbert and 23 more2 hr
Jul 21, 6:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAutauga, Bibb, Calhoun, Chambers, Chilton, Choctaw and 18 more5 hr

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Mississippi, 2003Mesoscale Discussions in Alabama, 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.