Alert archive / Mississippi / Tornado Watches in 2004

Tornado Watch 867

October 19, 200422 counties in Alabama; 27 counties in Mississippi

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Oct 19, 2004, 3:30 PM CDT for 22 counties in Alabama; 27 counties in Mississippi. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Oct 19, 2004, 3:30 PM CDT (20:30 UTC)
Expired
Oct 19, 2004, 9:00 PM CDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 49 counties

Autauga County, AL, Bibb County, AL, Chilton County, AL, Clay County, AL, Coosa County, AL, Dallas County, AL, Elmore County, AL, Fayette County, AL, Greene County, AL, Hale County, AL, Jefferson County, AL, Lamar County, AL, Lowndes County, AL, Montgomery County, AL, Perry County, AL, Pickens County, AL, Shelby 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, Leake County, MS, Leflore County, MS, Lowndes County, MS, Madison County, MS, Monroe County, MS, Montgomery County, MS, Neshoba County, MS, Noxubee County, MS, Oktibbeha County, MS, Sharkey County, MS, Sunflower County, MS, Tallahatchie County, MS, Webster County, MS, Winston County, MS, Yalobusha County, MS, Yazoo County, MS

The radar

The Columbus AFB radar (KGWX), 73 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:30 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

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 19, 3:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSumter15 min
Oct 19, 3:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANKemper, Neshoba44 min
Oct 19, 3:59 PM CDTTornado WarningJANLeake, Neshoba46 min
Oct 19, 4:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSumter46 min
Oct 19, 4:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANKemper47 min
Oct 19, 4:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXDallas43 min
Oct 19, 4:41 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXDallas49 min
Oct 19, 4:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANNeshoba17 min
Oct 19, 4:44 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXSumter46 min
Oct 19, 5:15 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXLowndes45 min
Oct 19, 5:26 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXSumter34 min
Oct 19, 5:30 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXDallas45 min
Oct 19, 5:59 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXLowndes46 min
Oct 19, 7:25 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANAttala, Holmes, Madison, Yazoo50 min
Oct 19, 8:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANAttala40 min
Oct 19, 8:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANLeake28 min
Oct 19, 8:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANChoctaw, Winston27 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 12:00Z, 8.5 hours before the alert went out and 166 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 12:00Z on 2004-10-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2735 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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 12:00Z on 2004-10-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 188 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
2735 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-1 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
501 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
188 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
247 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
3.8
Supercell composite
16.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WWUS20 KWNS 192031
SEL7  
SPC WW 192030
ALZ000-MSZ000-200200-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 867
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
330 PM CDT TUE OCT 19 2004

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

       CENTRAL ALABAMA
       NORTHERN AND CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI

EFFECTIVE THIS TUESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 330 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 55 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND
SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 45 MILES WEST OF GREENWOOD MISSISSIPPI TO 50
MILES NORTHEAST OF MONTGOMERY ALABAMA.

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 865. WATCH NUMBER 865 WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER 330
PM CDT. CONTINUE...WW 866...

DISCUSSION...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE TO DEVELOP ACROSS
NCENTRAL MS INTO WRN AL IN RESPONSE TO THE APPROACH OF MID LEVEL JET
MAX AND VERY UNSTABLE AIR MASS. SHEAR PROFILES REMAIN FAVORABLE FOR
SUPERCELLS AND ISOLATED TORNADOES ACROSS THE 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 26030.


...HALES

341,0905 333,0854 320,0854 324,0905

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 18, 7:10 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCColbert, Fayette, Franklin, Greene, Hale, Lamar and 8 more4 hr
Oct 18, 10:33 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCColbert, Franklin, Lauderdale, Limestone117 min
Oct 18, 10:55 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCColbert, Franklin, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone, Madison and 1 more5 hr
Oct 19, 2:04 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCColbert, Franklin, Jackson, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone and 2 more86 min
Oct 19, 3:34 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCColbert, DeKalb, Franklin, Jackson, Lauderdale, Lawrence and 4 more26 min
Oct 19, 3:50 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCCherokee, Colbert, Cullman, DeKalb, Etowah, Franklin and 9 more4 hr
Oct 19, 7:08 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCherokee, Cullman, DeKalb, Etowah, Franklin, Jackson and 6 more2 hr
Oct 19, 9:05 AM CDTTornado WatchSPCAutauga, Bibb, Calhoun, Chambers, Chilton, Clay and 20 more7 hr
Oct 19, 11:06 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBarbour, Butler, Choctaw, Clarke, Coffee, Conecuh and 10 more84 min
Oct 19, 12:00 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCBarbour, Bullock, Butler, Choctaw, Clarke, Coffee and 16 more7 hr
Oct 19, 1:15 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAutauga, Bibb, Calhoun, Chambers, Chilton, Clay and 20 more90 min
Oct 19, 3:08 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAutauga, Barbour, Bibb, Bullock, Butler, Calhoun and 43 more67 min
Oct 19, 5:48 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCButler, Choctaw, Clarke, Coffee, Conecuh, Covington and 13 more117 min
Oct 19, 6:20 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCBarbour, Butler, Choctaw, Clarke, Coffee, Conecuh and 16 more4 hr
Oct 18, 9:09 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlcorn, Benton2 hr
Oct 19, 1:35 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdams, Amite, Franklin, Hancock, Issaquena, Jefferson and 3 more2 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.