Alert archive / Mississippi / Tornado Watches in 2003

Tornado Watch 402

May 17, 2003Chicot County, Arkansas; 12 parishes in Louisiana; 26 counties in Mississippi

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 17, 2003, 4:45 AM CDT for Chicot County, Arkansas; 12 parishes in Louisiana; 26 counties in Mississippi. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 17, 2003, 4:45 AM CDT (09:45 UTC)
Expired
May 17, 2003, 10:00 AM CDT
In force
5 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 39 counties

Chicot County, AR, Caldwell Parish, LA, Catahoula Parish, LA, East Carroll Parish, LA, Franklin Parish, LA, LaSalle Parish, LA, Madison Parish, LA, Morehouse Parish, LA, Ouachita Parish, LA, Richland Parish, LA, Tensas Parish, LA, West Carroll Parish, LA, Winn Parish, LA, Attala County, MS, Bolivar County, MS, Calhoun County, MS, Carroll County, MS, Chickasaw County, MS, Choctaw County, MS, Claiborne County, MS, Clay County, MS, Grenada County, MS, Hinds County, MS, Holmes County, MS, Humphreys County, MS, Issaquena County, MS, Jefferson County, MS, Leflore County, MS, Madison County, MS, Monroe County, MS, Montgomery County, MS, Oktibbeha County, MS, Sharkey County, MS, Sunflower County, MS, Tallahatchie County, MS, Warren County, MS, Washington County, MS, Webster County, MS, Yazoo County, MS

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 17, 4:48 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANChicot42 min
May 17, 4:50 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVOuachita55 min
May 17, 5:07 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANWashington43 min
May 17, 5:13 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANMorehouse, Richland, West Carroll62 min
May 17, 5:37 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANSunflower43 min
May 17, 6:17 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANEast Carroll, Madison58 min
May 17, 6:48 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANSharkey42 min
May 17, 7:08 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANHumphreys42 min
May 17, 7:22 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANCatahoula, Franklin43 min
May 17, 8:18 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANWarren32 min
May 17, 9:10 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningJANAdams, Jefferson3 hr
May 17, 9:49 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANAttala, Leake41 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 00:00Z, 9.8 hours before the alert went out and 110 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 00:00Z on 2003-05-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2424 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 00:00Z on 2003-05-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 141 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
2424 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-22 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1112 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
141 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
216 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.7
Supercell composite
11.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

291 
WWUS20 KWNS 170940
SEL2  
SPC WW 170945
ARZ000-LAZ000-MSZ000-171500-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 402 
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 
445 AM CDT SAT MAY 17 2003

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

       SOUTHEAST CORNER OF ARKANSAS
       NORTHEAST LOUISIANA
       WESTERN AND NORTHERN MISSISSIPPI

EFFECTIVE THIS SATURDAY MORNING FROM 445 AM UNTIL 1000 AM CDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 80 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 70 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 40 MILES WEST OF NATCHEZ MISSISSIPPI TO 50 MILES
NORTHEAST OF GREENWOOD 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 HAVE INCREASED ACROSS SERN AR INTO NERN
LA AHEAD OF UPPER LOW MOVING SEWD ACROSS WRN AR.  VERY
MOIST...UNSTABLE AIRMASS AHEAD OF STORMS COUPLED WITH FAVORABLE
VEERING SHEAR WIND PROFILES SUPPORT DEVELOPMENT OF TORNADIC
SUPERCELLS AS STORMS MOVE EWD INTO MS.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 550.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24035.


...HALES

313,0930 340,0904 340,0881 313,0904

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 16, 8:14 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCArkansas, Ashley, Bradley, Calhoun, Cleveland, Columbia and 19 more2 hr
May 16, 8:38 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCArkansas, Ashley, Chicot, Crittenden, Cross, Desha and 10 more97 min
May 16, 9:35 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCArkansas, Ashley, Chicot, Craighead, Crittenden, Cross and 8 more6 hr
May 17, 1:54 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCChicot66 min
May 16, 8:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCSabine4 hr
May 17, 6:37 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCaldwell, Catahoula, East Carroll, Franklin, LaSalle, Madison and 3 more83 min
May 17, 7:48 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCatahoula, LaSalle, Tensas57 min
May 17, 9:20 AM CDTTornado WatchSPCEast Feliciana, Pointe Coupee, Saint Helena, Washington, West Feliciana6 hr
May 17, 1:50 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCEast Feliciana, Pointe Coupee, Saint Helena, Tangipahoa, Washington, West Feliciana115 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, 11:41 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCTishomingo94 min
May 17, 12:55 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCItawamba, Monroe, Prentiss, Tishomingo4 hr
May 17, 2:37 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCMonroe53 min
May 17, 5:42 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlcorn, Benton, Itawamba, Lafayette, Lee, Marshall and 7 more63 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Mississippi, 2003Tornado Watches in Louisiana, 2003Tornado Watches in Arkansas, 2003Every 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.