Alert archive / Mississippi / Tornado Watches in 2004

Tornado Watch 126

April 29, 20044 states

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Apr 29, 2004, 3:15 PM CDT for 4 states. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Apr 29, 2004, 3:15 PM CDT (20:15 UTC)
Expired: Apr 29, 2004, 9:00 PM CDT
In force: 6 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

Counties Baldwin County, AL, Mobile County, AL, Monroe County, AL, Escambia County, FL, Plaquemines Parish, LA, Saint Bernard Parish, LA, George County, MS, Hancock County, MS, Harrison County, MS, Jackson County, MS, Stone County, MS

The radar

The Mobile radar (KMOB), 58 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:16 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

Warnings issued inside it

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 29, 3:29 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Stone	31 min
Apr 29, 3:36 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LIX	Harrison, Jackson	54 min
Apr 29, 3:39 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MOB	Stone	36 min
Apr 29, 3:42 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LIX	Saint Bernard	33 min
Apr 29, 4:31 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LIX	Jackson	29 min
Apr 29, 4:38 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	George	22 min
Apr 29, 7:17 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Mobile	58 min
Apr 29, 7:39 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LIX	Plaquemines	36 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

Slidell Radar S, LA (KSIL), launched 12:00Z, 8.3 hours before the alert went out and 92 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: 11 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -529 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 922 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 220 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 374 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.

000 
WWUS20 KWNS 292014
SEL6  
SPC WW 292015
ALZ000-FLZ000-LAZ000-MSZ000-CWZ000-300200-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 126
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
315 PM CDT THU APR 29 2004

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

       SOUTHWEST ALABAMA
       EXTREME WESTERN FLORIDA PANHANDLE
       EXTREME SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA
       FAR SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI
       COASTAL WATERS

EFFECTIVE THIS THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 315 PM UNTIL
900 PM CDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 60 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND
SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 40 MILES NORTH OF PENSACOLA FLORIDA TO 35
MILES NORTHWEST OF BOOTHVILLE LOUISIANA.

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.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...CONTINUE...WW 124...WW 125...

DISCUSSION...CLUSTER OF INTENSE CONVECTION OVER SOUTHEAST
LA/SOUTHERN MS/SOUTHWEST AL WILL REMAIN ACTIVE FOR SEVERAL MORE
HOURS. INCREASING LOW LEVEL MOISTURE/INSTABILITY...COUPLED WITH
SUFFICIENT VERTICAL SHEAR FOR SUPERCELLS...WILL PROMOTE A RISK OF
DAMAGING WINDS AND ISOLATED TORNADOES THROUGH THE EVENING. 
RELATIVELY COOL TEMPERATURES ALOFT WILL ALSO SUPPORT A RISK OF HAIL
IN STRONGEST CELLS.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24035.


...HART

301,0871 284,0894 303,0894 315,0871

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 29, 6:15 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Mobile	90 min
Apr 29, 11:22 AM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Caldwell, Catahoula, Franklin, Grant, LaSalle, Madison and 8 more	113 min
Apr 29, 1:10 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Bienville, Caldwell, Catahoula, Claiborne, De Soto, East Carroll and 16 more	6 hr
Apr 29, 1:56 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Ascension, Assumption, Avoyelles, Concordia, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana and 23 more	2 hr
Apr 29, 5:36 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Caldwell, Catahoula, Concordia, East Carroll, Franklin, LaSalle and 4 more	84 min
Apr 29, 2:44 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Washington	2 hr
Apr 29, 6:55 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Attala, Carroll, Choctaw, Hinds, Holmes, Leake and 5 more	3 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Mississippi, 2004 Tornado Watches in Alabama, 2004 Tornado Watches in Louisiana, 2004 Every tornado watch in 2004

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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.