Alert archive / Mississippi / Tornado Watches in 2004

Tornado Watch 130

April 29, 2004Colbert County, Franklin County, Lauderdale County, Alabama; 37 counties in Mississippi

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Apr 29, 2004, 9:25 PM CDT for Colbert County, Franklin County, Lauderdale County, Alabama; 37 counties in Mississippi. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Apr 29, 2004, 9:25 PM CDT (02:25 UTC)
Expired
Apr 30, 2004, 2:00 AM CDT
In force
5 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 40 counties

Colbert County, AL, Franklin County, AL, Lauderdale County, AL, Alcorn County, MS, Attala County, MS, Benton County, MS, Calhoun County, MS, Chickasaw County, MS, Choctaw County, MS, Clay County, MS, Copiah County, MS, Covington County, MS, Itawamba County, MS, Jasper County, MS, Jefferson Davis County, MS, Jones County, MS, Kemper County, MS, Lawrence County, MS, Leake County, MS, Lee County, MS, Lincoln County, MS, Lowndes County, MS, Madison County, MS, Monroe County, MS, Montgomery County, MS, Neshoba County, MS, Newton County, MS, Noxubee County, MS, Oktibbeha County, MS, Pontotoc County, MS, Prentiss County, MS, Rankin County, MS, Scott County, MS, Simpson County, MS, Smith County, MS, Tippah County, MS, Tishomingo County, MS, Union County, MS, Webster County, MS, Winston County, MS

The radar

The Jackson/Brandon,MS radar (KDGX), 82 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:27 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

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 29, 9:28 PM CDTTornado WarningJANSimpson77 min
Apr 29, 9:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANAttala, Madison44 min
Apr 29, 9:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANLeake62 min
Apr 29, 10:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANRankin39 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, 2.4 hours before the alert went out and 85 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 2004-04-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 851 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 2004-04-30The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 109 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
851 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-3 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
851 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
52 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
109 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
181 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.6
Supercell composite
2.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WWUS20 KWNS 300225
SEL0  
SPC WW 300225
ALZ000-MSZ000-300700-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 130
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
925 PM CDT THU APR 29 2004

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

       NORTHWEST ALABAMA
       CENTRAL AND EASTERN MISSISSIPPI

EFFECTIVE THIS THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY MORNING FROM 925 PM UNTIL
200 AM 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 45 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 55 MILES NORTH NORTHEAST OF TUPELO MISSISSIPPI TO
45 MILES WEST SOUTHWEST OF LAUREL 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.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...THIS TORNADO WATCH REPLACES TORNADO
WATCH NUMBER 128. WATCH NUMBER 128 WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER 925
PM CDT. CONTINUE...WW 125...WW 127...WW 129...

DISCUSSION...SUPERCELLS EXPECTED TO PERSIST INTO LATE EVENING AS
DEEP SHEAR AND INCREASING BOUNDARY LAYER MOISTURE INFLOW MAINTAIN
ENVIRONMENT FAVORABLE FOR SUSTENANCE OF EXISTING ACTIVITY.  AN
ISOLATED STORM OR TWO MAY DEVELOP INVOF NW/SE WARM FRONT LIFTING NE
ACROSS SRN PART OF WW REGION.  THREAT SHOULD DIMINISH WITH CONTINUED
BOUNDARY LAYER COOLING LATER TONIGHT.

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 400.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 25030.


...CORFIDI

350,0873 312,0890 312,0903 350,0891

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 29, 7:51 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaldwin, Mobile, Monroe54 min
Apr 29, 8:55 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCBaldwin, Coffee, Covington, Dale, Escambia, Geneva and 3 more5 hr
Apr 29, 11:09 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaldwin, Coffee, Covington, Dale, Escambia, Geneva and 3 more96 min
Apr 29, 11:41 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCColbert, Franklin, Lauderdale64 min
Apr 30, 1:21 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaldwin, Coffee, Covington, Dale, Escambia, Geneva and 3 more24 min
Apr 29, 8:58 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAttala, Calhoun, Carroll, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Clarke and 28 more62 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Mississippi, 2004Tornado Watches in Alabama, 2004Every 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.