Alert archive / Mississippi / Tornado Watches in 2003

Tornado Watch 27

March 5, 200316 parishes in Louisiana; 33 counties in Mississippi

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Mar 5, 2003, 2:45 PM CST for 16 parishes in Louisiana; 33 counties in Mississippi. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Mar 5, 2003, 2:45 PM CST (20:45 UTC)
Expired: Mar 5, 2003, 8:00 PM CST
In force: 5 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 49 counties

Avoyelles Parish, LA, Catahoula Parish, LA, Concordia Parish, LA, East Baton Rouge Parish, LA, East Carroll Parish, LA, East Feliciana Parish, LA, Evangeline Parish, LA, Franklin Parish, LA, Madison Parish, LA, Pointe Coupee Parish, LA, Saint Helena Parish, LA, Saint Landry Parish, LA, Tangipahoa Parish, LA, Tensas Parish, LA, Washington Parish, LA, West Feliciana Parish, LA, Adams County, MS, Amite County, MS, Claiborne County, MS, Copiah County, MS, Covington County, MS, Franklin County, MS, Hinds County, MS, Issaquena 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, Pearl River County, MS, Pike County, MS, Rankin County, MS, Scott County, MS, Sharkey County, MS, Simpson County, MS, Smith County, MS, Walthall County, MS, Warren County, MS, Wilkinson County, MS, Yazoo County, MS

Warnings issued inside it

9 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 5, 3:27 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAN	Copiah, Hinds, Rankin	38 min
Mar 5, 4:14 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAN	Hinds, Rankin	41 min
Mar 5, 4:16 PM CST	Flash Flood Warning	JAN	Hinds, Rankin	119 min
Mar 5, 4:50 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAN	Scott	45 min
Mar 5, 4:56 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAN	Hinds	34 min
Mar 5, 5:05 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAN	Madison, Tensas	45 min
Mar 5, 5:13 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAN	Neshoba, Newton	57 min
Mar 5, 5:38 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAN	Kemper, Lauderdale	42 min
Mar 5, 5:50 PM CST	Tornado Warning	JAN	Kemper	30 min

Discussions around it

SPC mesoscale discussions over the same counties from four hours before the watch to its end.

The nearest sounding before it

Jackson, MS (KJAN), launched 12:00Z, 8.8 hours before the alert went out and 125 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 890 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 78 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 22 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 70 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.

148 
WWUS20 KWNS 052044
SEL7
SPC WW 052045
LAZ000-MSZ000-060200-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 27
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
245 PM CST WED MAR 5 2003

THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF

   CENTRAL AND EASTERN LOUISIANA                          
   CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI                        

EFFECTIVE THIS WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 245 PM UNTIL
800 PM CST.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 1 INCH IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO
80 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 90 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 5 MILES WEST SOUTHWEST OF BATON ROUGE LOUISIANA TO
45 MILES NORTH NORTHEAST OF JACKSON MISSISSIPPI.

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.

DISCUSSION...THUNDERSTORMS ARE BEGINNING TO INCREASE IN INTENSITY
AND AREAL COVERAGE OVER PARTS OF CENTRAL LA AND SOUTHWEST MS.  THIS
ACTIVITY IS IN REGION OF VERY STRONG WIND FIELDS AND VERTICAL
SHEAR...BUT MINIMAL INSTABILITY.  DESPITE WEAK CAPE...STRENGTH OF
SHEAR AND INCREASING LARGE SCALE FORCING SUGGEST THE POTENTIAL THAT
SOME STORMS COULD BECOME SEVERE THIS EVENING.  DAMAGING WINDS ARE
THE MAIN THREAT...BUT ISOLATED TORNADOES COULD ALSO OCCUR IN
STRONGEST CELLS.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 1 INCH...EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS.  A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 450. 
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 25045.

...HART

302,0924 325,0911 325,0881 302,0894

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 5, 11:46 AM CST	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Allen, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Caldwell, Catahoula and 14 more	119 min
Mar 5, 4:49 PM CST	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Avoyelles, Catahoula, Concordia, East Carroll, East Feliciana, Franklin and 7 more	86 min
Mar 5, 4:45 PM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	Clarke, Jones, Lauderdale, Wayne	6 hr
Mar 5, 5:41 PM CST	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Kemper	94 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Mississippi, 2003 Tornado Watches in Louisiana, 2003 Every tornado watch 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.