Alert archive / Mississippi / Tornado Watches in 2004
Tornado Watch 865
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Oct 19, 2004, 9:05 AM CDT for 26 counties in Alabama; 27 counties in Mississippi. It was in force for 7 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Oct 19, 2004, 9:05 AM CDT (14:05 UTC)
- Expired
- Oct 19, 2004, 4:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 7 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 53 counties
Autauga County, AL, Bibb County, AL, Calhoun County, AL, Chambers County, AL, Chilton County, AL, Clay County, AL, Cleburne County, AL, Coosa County, AL, Elmore County, AL, Fayette County, AL, Greene County, AL, Hale County, AL, Jefferson County, AL, Lamar County, AL, Lee County, AL, Macon County, AL, Perry County, AL, Pickens County, AL, Randolph County, AL, Shelby County, AL, St. Clair County, AL, Sumter County, AL, Talladega County, AL, Tallapoosa County, AL, Tuscaloosa County, AL, Walker County, AL, Attala County, MS, Calhoun County, MS, Carroll County, MS, Chickasaw County, MS, Choctaw County, MS, Clay County, MS, Coahoma County, MS, Grenada County, MS, Holmes County, MS, Humphreys County, MS, Kemper County, MS, Lafayette County, MS, Leflore County, MS, Lowndes County, MS, Monroe County, MS, Montgomery County, MS, Neshoba County, MS, Noxubee County, MS, Oktibbeha County, MS, Panola County, MS, Pontotoc County, MS, Quitman County, MS, Sunflower County, MS, Tallahatchie County, MS, Webster County, MS, Winston County, MS, Yalobusha County, MS
The radar
The Columbus AFB radar (KGWX), 41 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 14:09 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
18 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 19, 9:54 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | St. Clair, Talladega | 36 min |
| Oct 19, 10:15 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Holmes | 45 min |
| Oct 19, 10:26 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Calhoun | 49 min |
| Oct 19, 10:31 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Talladega | 29 min |
| Oct 19, 11:40 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Clay | 35 min |
| Oct 19, 12:41 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Calhoun, Yalobusha | 49 min |
| Oct 19, 1:16 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Tallapoosa | 29 min |
| Oct 19, 1:22 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Lee | 38 min |
| Oct 19, 1:36 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Chambers | 24 min |
| Oct 19, 2:04 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Carroll, Montgomery | 56 min |
| Oct 19, 2:08 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Lee | 37 min |
| Oct 19, 2:43 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Sumter | 32 min |
| Oct 19, 3:05 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Grenada | 25 min |
| Oct 19, 3:06 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Clay | 24 min |
| Oct 19, 3:10 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | JAN | Attala, Holmes, Madison, Yazoo | 35 min |
| Oct 19, 3:45 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Sumter | 15 min |
| Oct 19, 3:46 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Kemper, Neshoba | 44 min |
| Oct 19, 3:59 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | JAN | Leake, Neshoba | 46 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
Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 2.1 hours before the alert went out and 174 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1233 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -18 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 574 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 40 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 48 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 123 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.7
- Supercell composite
- 4.3
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
WWUS20 KWNS 191405
SEL5
SPC WW 191405
ALZ000-MSZ000-192100-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 865
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
905 AM CDT TUE OCT 19 2004
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
NORTHERN AND CENTRAL ALABAMA
NORTHERN AND CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI
EFFECTIVE THIS TUESDAY MORNING AND AFTERNOON FROM 905 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 55 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND
SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 25 MILES NORTH NORTHEAST OF AUBURN ALABAMA TO
45 MILES WEST NORTHWEST 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...VERY MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIR MASS WITH LITTLE CAPPING
THIS AM ACROSS MS/AL. WITH 30-35 KT OF SFC-1KM SHEAR AND PRONOUNCED
UPPER DIFFLUENCE...CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR SUPERCELLS AND
TORNADOES. STORMS EXPECTED TO INTENSIFY AND BECOME MORE WIDESPREAD
NEXT SEVERAL HOURS ACROSS WATCH AREA.
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 550.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 26035.
...HALES
320,0851 325,0904 343,0904 334,0851SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 18, 7:10 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Colbert, Fayette, Franklin, Greene, Hale, Lamar and 8 more | 4 hr |
| Oct 18, 10:33 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Colbert, Franklin, Lauderdale, Limestone | 117 min |
| Oct 18, 10:55 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Colbert, Franklin, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone, Madison and 1 more | 5 hr |
| Oct 19, 2:04 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Colbert, Franklin, Jackson, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone and 2 more | 86 min |
| Oct 19, 3:34 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Colbert, DeKalb, Franklin, Jackson, Lauderdale, Lawrence and 4 more | 26 min |
| Oct 19, 3:50 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Cherokee, Colbert, Cullman, DeKalb, Etowah, Franklin and 9 more | 4 hr |
| Oct 19, 7:08 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Cherokee, Cullman, DeKalb, Etowah, Franklin, Jackson and 6 more | 2 hr |
| Oct 19, 11:06 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Barbour, Butler, Choctaw, Clarke, Coffee, Conecuh and 10 more | 84 min |
| Oct 19, 12:00 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Barbour, Bullock, Butler, Choctaw, Clarke, Coffee and 16 more | 7 hr |
| Oct 19, 1:15 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Autauga, Bibb, Calhoun, Chambers, Chilton, Clay and 20 more | 90 min |
| Oct 19, 3:08 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Autauga, Barbour, Bibb, Bullock, Butler, Calhoun and 43 more | 67 min |
| Oct 19, 3:30 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Autauga, Bibb, Chilton, Clay, Coosa, Dallas and 16 more | 6 hr |
| Oct 19, 5:48 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Butler, Choctaw, Clarke, Coffee, Conecuh, Covington and 13 more | 117 min |
| Oct 19, 6:20 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Barbour, Butler, Choctaw, Clarke, Coffee, Conecuh and 16 more | 4 hr |
| Oct 18, 9:09 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Alcorn, Benton | 2 hr |
| Oct 19, 1:35 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Amite, Franklin, Hancock, Issaquena, Jefferson and 3 more | 2 hr |
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.