Alert archive / Mississippi / Tornado Watches in 2008

Tornado Watch 257

May 2, 2008Ashley County, Chicot County, Arkansas; 17 parishes in Louisiana; 42 counties in Mississippi

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 2, 2008, 11:38 PM CDT for Ashley County, Chicot County, Arkansas; 17 parishes in Louisiana; 42 counties in Mississippi. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 2, 2008, 11:38 PM CDT (04:38 UTC)
Expired
May 3, 2008, 6:06 AM CDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
2 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 61 counties

Ashley County, AR, Chicot County, AR, Caldwell Parish, LA, Catahoula Parish, LA, Concordia Parish, LA, East Carroll Parish, LA, Franklin Parish, LA, Grant Parish, LA, Jackson Parish, LA, LaSalle Parish, LA, Madison Parish, LA, Morehouse Parish, LA, Natchitoches Parish, LA, Ouachita Parish, LA, Richland Parish, LA, Sabine Parish, LA, Tensas Parish, LA, West Carroll Parish, LA, Winn Parish, LA, Adams County, MS, Attala County, MS, Bolivar County, MS, Calhoun County, MS, Carroll County, MS, Chickasaw County, MS, Choctaw County, MS, Claiborne County, MS, Clay County, MS, Copiah County, MS, Franklin County, MS, Grenada County, MS, Hinds County, MS, Holmes County, MS, Humphreys County, MS, Issaquena County, MS, Jefferson County, MS, Kemper County, MS, Leake County, MS, Leflore 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, Rankin County, MS, Scott County, MS, Sharkey County, MS, Simpson County, MS, Smith County, MS, Sunflower County, MS, Tallahatchie County, MS, Warren County, MS, Washington County, MS, Webster County, MS, Winston County, MS, Yalobusha County, MS, Yazoo County, MS

The radar

The Jackson/Brandon,MS radar (KDGX), 95 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:38 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
20%
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

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 2, 11:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANChicot40 min
May 3, 12:07 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANGrenada, Leflore, Sunflower38 min
May 3, 12:09 AM CDTTornado WarningJANHumphreys, Leflore, Sunflower, Washington36 min
May 3, 12:18 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANEast Carroll, West Carroll27 min
May 3, 12:27 AM CDTTornado WarningJANCarroll, Grenada, Leflore33 min
May 3, 12:30 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANEast Carroll, West Carroll45 min
May 3, 12:44 AM CDTTornado WarningJANCarroll, Holmes, Humphreys, Leflore46 min
May 3, 12:46 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANFranklin, Madison, Richland59 min
May 3, 12:53 AM CDTTornado WarningJANGrenada26 min
May 3, 12:53 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGCalhoun, Yalobusha52 min
May 3, 12:56 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVCaldwell, Grant, LaSalle, Winn64 min
May 3, 1:07 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANEast Carroll, Madison, Richland, West Carroll38 min
May 3, 1:09 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANCarroll, Holmes, Humphreys, Sharkey, Yazoo66 min
May 3, 1:23 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANCarroll, Grenada, Montgomery, Webster52 min
May 3, 1:27 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGCalhoun, Chickasaw, Pontotoc48 min
May 3, 1:38 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANMadison52 min
May 3, 1:44 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANCatahoula, Franklin, Madison, Richland, Tensas46 min
May 3, 1:48 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGCalhoun27 min
May 3, 2:06 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANCatahoula, Concordia, Franklin, Tensas39 min
May 3, 2:06 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVLaSalle39 min
May 3, 2:06 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANClay, Webster39 min
May 3, 2:11 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANAttala, Carroll, Choctaw, Holmes, Montgomery49 min
May 3, 2:12 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANMadison48 min
May 3, 2:16 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANAttala, Madison, Yazoo44 min
May 3, 2:25 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGChickasaw, Itawamba, Monroe65 min
May 3, 2:31 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANMadison, Tensas44 min
May 3, 2:48 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANClay, Lowndes42 min
May 3, 2:50 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANCatahoula, Concordia, Franklin, Tensas40 min
May 3, 2:51 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANHinds, Leake, Madison, Rankin, Scott54 min
May 3, 3:14 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANClaiborne, Copiah, Franklin, Hinds, Jefferson46 min
May 3, 3:23 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANConcordia52 min
May 3, 3:39 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANLowndes, Noxubee, Oktibbeha, Winston57 min
May 3, 3:41 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANHinds, Rankin, Scott49 min
May 3, 3:42 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANLeake, Neshoba48 min
May 3, 3:52 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANCopiah, Franklin, Hinds, Jefferson, Lincoln, Rankin and 1 more38 min
May 3, 3:57 AM CDTTornado WarningJANJefferson Davis, Lawrence, Lincoln, Marion48 min
May 3, 4:01 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANAdams, Franklin44 min
May 3, 4:07 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANNewton, Scott38 min
May 3, 4:27 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANJasper, Smith34 min
May 3, 4:29 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANRankin, Scott, Smith31 min
May 3, 4:30 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANCopiah, Simpson45 min
May 3, 4:34 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANCopiah, Jefferson Davis, Lawrence, Lincoln, Simpson43 min
May 3, 4:46 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANNewton, Scott, Smith33 min
May 3, 5:06 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANJasper, Smith39 min
May 3, 5:14 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANCovington, Simpson, Smith30 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, 4.6 hours before the alert went out and 87 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 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, Jackson, MS at 00:00Z on 2008-05-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 118 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1557 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
45 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
118 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
308 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 2, 7:09 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCColbert, Fayette, Franklin, Lamar, Lauderdale, Lawrence and 5 more96 min
May 2, 11:04 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCColbert, Fayette, Franklin, Lamar, Lauderdale, Lawrence and 2 more86 min
May 3, 2:16 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCColbert, Fayette, Franklin, Lamar, Lauderdale, Lawrence and 2 more59 min
May 3, 4:07 AM CDTTornado WatchSPCChoctaw, Mobile, Washington7 hr
May 3, 7:10 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAutauga, Baldwin, Butler, Chilton, Clarke, Conecuh and 12 more6 hr
May 3, 7:36 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCMobile54 min
May 3, 9:04 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBarbour, Bullock, Coffee, Dale, Geneva, Henry and 3 more86 min
May 2, 7:48 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCAshley, Bradley, Chicot, Desha, Drew, Lincoln and 1 more4 hr
May 3, 4:04 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCEast Feliciana, Pointe Coupee, Saint Helena, Saint Landry, West Feliciana56 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Mississippi, 2008Tornado Watches in Louisiana, 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.