Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Watches in 2004

Tornado Watch 353

May 31, 20045 states

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 31, 2004, 10:00 AM CDT for 5 states. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 31, 2004, 10:00 AM CDT (15:00 UTC)
Expired
May 31, 2004, 4:00 PM CDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 73 counties

Baldwin County, AL, Coffee County, AL, Conecuh County, AL, Covington County, AL, Dale County, AL, Escambia County, AL, Geneva County, AL, Henry County, AL, Houston County, AL, Mobile County, AL, Washington County, AL, Escambia County, FL, Gadsden County, FL, Holmes County, FL, Jackson County, FL, Okaloosa County, FL, Santa Rosa County, FL, Walton County, FL, Washington County, FL, Baker County, GA, Ben Hill County, GA, Berrien County, GA, Brooks County, GA, Calhoun County, GA, Clay County, GA, Colquitt County, GA, Cook County, GA, Decatur County, GA, Dougherty County, GA, Early County, GA, Grady County, GA, Irwin County, GA, Lanier County, GA, Lowndes County, GA, Miller County, GA, Mitchell County, GA, Seminole County, GA, Terrell County, GA, Thomas County, GA, Tift County, GA, Turner County, GA, Worth County, GA, Ascension Parish, LA, East Baton Rouge Parish, LA, East Feliciana Parish, LA, Iberville Parish, LA, Livingston Parish, LA, Orleans Parish, LA, Pointe Coupee Parish, LA, Saint Helena Parish, LA, Saint James Parish, LA, Saint John the Baptist Parish, LA, Saint Martin Parish, LA, Saint Tammany Parish, LA, Tangipahoa Parish, LA, Washington Parish, LA, West Baton Rouge Parish, LA, West Feliciana Parish, LA, Amite County, MS, Forrest County, MS, George County, MS, Greene County, MS, Hancock County, MS, Harrison County, MS, Jackson County, MS, Lamar County, MS, Marion County, MS, Pearl River County, MS, Perry County, MS, Pike County, MS, Stone County, MS, Walthall County, MS, Wilkinson County, MS

The radar

The Mobile radar (KMOB), 30 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 15:03 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

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 31, 11:31 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBGeorge, Greene13 hr
May 31, 11:34 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBGeorge, Greene41 min
May 31, 12:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBMobile, Washington60 min
May 31, 1:22 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLIXSaint Tammany23 min
May 31, 1:25 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBCovington50 min
May 31, 1:39 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLIXPearl River51 min
May 31, 1:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAECoffee, Geneva32 min
May 31, 1:46 PM CDTTornado WarningMOBCovington14 min
May 31, 1:51 PM CDTTornado WarningTAECoffee, Geneva24 min
May 31, 1:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLIXHancock, Harrison38 min
May 31, 2:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBPerry39 min
May 31, 2:13 PM CDTTornado WarningTAECoffee, Dale, Geneva32 min
May 31, 2:18 PM CDTTornado WarningMOBGreene, Perry27 min
May 31, 2:22 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLIXHancock23 min
May 31, 2:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLIXHarrison38 min
May 31, 2:47 PM CDTTornado WarningTAEGeneva, Houston28 min
May 31, 3:08 PM CDTTornado WarningTAEHouston22 min
May 31, 3:24 PM CDTTornado WarningTAEHouston36 min
May 31, 3:35 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBMobile40 min
May 31, 3:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEHouston22 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, 3.0 hours before the alert went out and 162 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, Slidell Radar S, LA at 12:00Z on 2004-05-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1274 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, Slidell Radar S, LA at 12:00Z on 2004-05-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 104 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
1274 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-64 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
701 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
104 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
164 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.4
Supercell composite
2.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WWUS20 KWNS 311502
SEL3  
SPC WW 311500
ALZ000-FLZ000-GAZ000-LAZ000-MSZ000-CWZ000-312100-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 353
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1000 AM CDT MON MAY 31 2004

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

       SOUTHERN ALABAMA
       THE WESTERN FLORIDA PANHANDLE
       SOUTHWEST GEORGIA
       SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA
       SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI
       COASTAL WATERS

EFFECTIVE THIS MONDAY MORNING AND AFTERNOON FROM 1000 AM UNTIL 400
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 45 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND
SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 30 MILES WEST OF BATON ROUGE LOUISIANA TO 35
MILES NORTH NORTHEAST OF VALDOSTA GEORGIA.

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 352...

DISCUSSION...THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED TO INTENSIFY ALONG OUTFLOW
BOUNDARY THAT WILL BECOME VERY SLOW-MOVING ALONG A WSW/ENE AXIS FROM
S CNTRL LA INTO SW GA LATER TODAY.  INFLOW OF VERY RICH BOUNDARY
LAYER MOISTURE... MODERATE WSWLY DEEP SHEAR PARALLEL TO BOUNDARY AND
SURFACE HEATING SUGGEST POTENTIAL FOR SUPERCELLS WITH BOWING
SEGMENTS AND POSSIBLE TORNADOES.

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 26030.


...CORFIDI

311,0913 315,0830 303,0830 295,0913

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 30, 8:54 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCColbert, Franklin, Lamar, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone and 2 more66 min
May 30, 9:15 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCBlount, Colbert, Cullman, DeKalb, Etowah, Fayette and 13 more7 hr
May 30, 11:05 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCColbert, Franklin, Jackson, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone and 4 more55 min
May 31, 12:40 AM CDTTornado WatchSPCCherokee5 hr
May 31, 1:06 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBlount, Cullman, DeKalb, Etowah, Fayette, Franklin and 11 more84 min
May 31, 3:40 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCherokee95 min
May 31, 3:45 AM CDTTornado WatchSPCAutauga, Bibb, Calhoun, Chambers, Chilton, Clay and 17 more5 hr
May 31, 5:31 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAutauga, Bibb, Calhoun, Chambers, Chilton, Clay and 17 more119 min
May 31, 9:21 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaldwin, Coffee, Conecuh, Covington, Crenshaw, Dale and 8 more54 min
May 31, 1:06 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaldwin, Coffee, Conecuh, Covington, Dale, Escambia and 5 more54 min
May 31, 3:30 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCDale, Geneva, Henry, Houston4 hr
May 31, 10:18 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCNassau27 min
May 31, 10:40 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCHamilton6 hr
May 31, 1:27 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCHamilton63 min
May 31, 2:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAlachua, Baker, Bradford, Clay, Columbia, Duval and 5 more5 hr
May 31, 5:28 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlachua, Baker, Bradford, Clay, Columbia, Duval and 3 more92 min
May 31, 5:59 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBay, Calhoun, Gadsden, Jefferson, Leon, Liberty and 1 more61 min
May 31, 6:30 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCBaker, Bradford, Clay, Columbia, Duval, Hamilton and 5 more4 hr
May 31, 8:10 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBurke, Columbia, Elbert, Glascock, Greene, Hancock and 12 more5 hr
May 30, 8:55 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAvoyelles, Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Caldwell, Catahoula and 23 more65 min
May 30, 10:35 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCBienville, Bossier, Caddo, Claiborne, De Soto, East Carroll and 10 more5 hr
May 31, 1:27 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBienville, Caldwell, De Soto, East Carroll, Franklin, Jackson and 7 more2 hr
May 30, 10:55 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCAlcorn, Attala, Benton, Bolivar, Calhoun, Carroll and 31 more5 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Georgia, 2004Tornado Watches in Louisiana, 2004Tornado Watches in Mississippi, 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.