Alert archive / Mississippi / Tornado Watches in 2008

Tornado Watch 255

May 2, 20087 counties in Arkansas; 21 counties in Mississippi

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 2, 2008, 7:48 PM CDT for 7 counties in Arkansas; 21 counties in Mississippi. It was in force for 4 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 2, 2008, 7:48 PM CDT (00:48 UTC)
Expired
May 2, 2008, 11:44 PM CDT
In force
4 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
2.5 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 28 counties

Ashley County, AR, Bradley County, AR, Chicot County, AR, Desha County, AR, Drew County, AR, Lincoln County, AR, Phillips County, AR, Alcorn County, MS, Benton County, MS, Bolivar County, MS, Calhoun County, MS, Coahoma County, MS, DeSoto County, MS, Grenada County, MS, Lafayette County, MS, Leflore County, MS, Marshall County, MS, Panola County, MS, Pontotoc County, MS, Quitman County, MS, Sunflower County, MS, Tallahatchie County, MS, Tate County, MS, Tippah County, MS, Tunica County, MS, Union County, MS, Washington County, MS, Yalobusha County, MS

The radar

The Little Rock radar (KLZK), 174 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:50 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.

What SPC expected

The probabilities SPC published with the watch, for the watch area over its life.

Two or more tornadoes
40%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
20%
Ten or more severe wind reports
30%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
30%
Ten or more severe hail reports
40%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
30%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
70%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 2, 7:52 PM CDTTornado WarningJANBolivar, Sunflower53 min
May 2, 7:57 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningJANBolivar3 hr
May 2, 8:00 PM CDTTornado WarningJANAshley45 min
May 2, 8:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKDesha, Drew44 min
May 2, 8:01 PM CDTTornado WarningJANBolivar44 min
May 2, 8:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANAshley, Chicot65 min
May 2, 8:12 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningLZKDesha, Drew63 min
May 2, 8:20 PM CDTTornado WarningJANAshley, Chicot55 min
May 2, 8:34 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGDeSoto, Marshall41 min
May 2, 8:35 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningJANAshley, Chicot6 hr
May 2, 8:35 PM CDTTornado WarningJANBolivar, Sunflower55 min
May 2, 8:36 PM CDTTornado WarningMEGPanola, Quitman39 min
May 2, 8:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGDeSoto, Marshall43 min
May 2, 9:09 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKDesha36 min
May 2, 9:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANAshley, Chicot60 min
May 2, 9:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANAshley86 min
May 2, 10:39 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKBradley36 min
May 2, 10:50 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningMEGPhillips115 min
May 2, 10:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKDrew51 min
May 2, 10:58 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningJANBolivar3 hr
May 2, 11:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANChicot41 min
May 2, 11:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANAshley32 min
May 2, 11:24 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningLZKDesha, Drew3 hr

Discussions around it

SPC mesoscale discussions over the same counties from four hours before the watch to its end.

The nearest sounding before it

Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 00:00Z, 0.8 hours before the alert went out and 133 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, Little Rock, AR at 00:00Z on 2008-05-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Little Rock, AR at 00:00Z on 2008-05-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 50 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
2053 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
66 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
50 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
250 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 030047
SEL5  
SPC WW 030047
ARZ000-MSZ000-030700-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 255
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
750 PM CDT FRI MAY 2 2008

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

       PARTS OF EASTERN ARKANSAS
       LARGE PART OF NORTHERN MISSISSIPPI

EFFECTIVE THIS FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY MORNING FROM 750 PM
UNTIL 200 AM CDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2.5 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND
GUSTS TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE
AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 60 STATUTE
MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 40 MILES SOUTH SOUTHEAST OF
MONTICELLO ARKANSAS TO 45 MILES NORTH NORTHEAST OF OXFORD
MISSISSIPPI.  FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE
ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU5).

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 251. WATCH NUMBER 251 WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER
750 PM CDT. CONTINUE...WW 253...WW 254...

DISCUSSION...SUPERCELL THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP ACROSS
THE WATCH AREA NEXT SEVERAL HOURS AS SHEAR AND UNSTABLE AIR MASS
REMAIN FAVORABLE.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2.5 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE
WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO
550. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24035.


...HALES

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 2, 7:09 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCArkansas, Ashley, Bradley, Chicot, Crittenden, Desha and 5 more96 min
May 2, 11:04 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAshley, Chicot, Desha86 min
May 2, 11:38 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCAshley, Chicot6 hr
May 3, 2:16 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAshley, Chicot, Desha59 min
May 3, 4:04 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAmite, Jefferson Davis, Lawrence, Lincoln, Pike56 min
May 3, 4:07 AM CDTTornado WatchSPCAmite, Clarke, Covington, Forrest, George, Greene and 17 more7 hr
May 3, 7:36 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCGeorge, Greene, Hancock, Harrison, Jackson, Pearl River and 2 more54 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Mississippi, 2008Tornado Watches in Arkansas, 2008Every tornado watch in 2008

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.