Alert archive / Louisiana / Tornado Watches in 2008
Tornado Watch 258
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 3, 2008, 4:07 AM CDT for 29 parishes in Louisiana; 23 counties in Mississippi. It was in force for 7 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- May 3, 2008, 4:07 AM CDT (09:07 UTC)
- Expired
- May 3, 2008, 11:00 AM CDT
- In force
- 7 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 1.5 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
All 52 counties
Acadia Parish, LA, Ascension Parish, LA, Assumption Parish, LA, East Baton Rouge Parish, LA, East Feliciana Parish, LA, Iberia Parish, LA, Iberville Parish, LA, Jefferson Parish, LA, Lafayette Parish, LA, Lafourche Parish, LA, Livingston Parish, LA, Orleans Parish, LA, Plaquemines Parish, LA, Pointe Coupee Parish, LA, Saint Bernard Parish, LA, Saint Charles Parish, LA, Saint Helena Parish, LA, Saint James Parish, LA, Saint John the Baptist Parish, LA, Saint Landry Parish, LA, Saint Martin Parish, LA, Saint Tammany Parish, LA, St. Mary Parish, LA, Tangipahoa Parish, LA, Terrebonne Parish, LA, Vermilion Parish, LA, Washington Parish, LA, West Baton Rouge Parish, LA, West Feliciana Parish, LA, Amite County, MS, Clarke County, MS, Covington County, MS, Forrest County, MS, George County, MS, Greene County, MS, Hancock County, MS, Harrison County, MS, Jackson County, MS, Jasper County, MS, Jefferson Davis County, MS, Jones County, MS, Lamar County, MS, Lauderdale County, MS, Lawrence County, MS, Marion County, MS, Pearl River County, MS, Perry County, MS, Pike County, MS, Stone County, MS, Walthall County, MS, Wayne County, MS, Wilkinson County, MS
What SPC expected
The probabilities SPC published with the watch, for the watch area over its life.
- Two or more tornadoes
- 50%
- 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
- 30%
- One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
- 20%
- Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
- 70%
Warnings issued inside it
29 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 3, 4:08 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LIX | Pointe Coupee, West Feliciana | 37 min |
| May 3, 4:13 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | LIX | Walthall | 32 min |
| May 3, 4:19 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Evangeline, Saint Landry | 26 min |
| May 3, 4:27 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Jasper, Smith | 34 min |
| May 3, 4:29 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LIX | Amite, Pike, Wilkinson | 46 min |
| May 3, 4:34 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Copiah, Jefferson Davis, Lawrence, Lincoln, Simpson | 43 min |
| May 3, 4:42 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LIX | Pointe Coupee, West Feliciana | 48 min |
| May 3, 4:44 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | JAN | Covington, Jefferson Davis | 46 min |
| May 3, 5:06 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Jasper, Smith | 39 min |
| May 3, 5:14 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Covington, Simpson, Smith | 30 min |
| May 3, 5:23 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Jones | 52 min |
| May 3, 5:36 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Jasper, Jones | 39 min |
| May 3, 5:41 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Forrest, Lamar | 49 min |
| May 3, 5:42 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Clarke, Lauderdale | 33 min |
| May 3, 5:45 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LIX | East Baton Rouge, Iberville, West Baton Rouge | 45 min |
| May 3, 6:02 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | JAN | Forrest, Lamar | 43 min |
| May 3, 6:03 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Clarke | 31 min |
| May 3, 6:09 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | LIX | Saint Tammany, Washington | 6 hr |
| May 3, 6:13 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Greene, Perry, Wayne | 47 min |
| May 3, 6:15 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Jones | 18 min |
| May 3, 6:21 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | MOB | Wayne | 14 min |
| May 3, 6:43 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LIX | Saint Tammany, Washington | 47 min |
| May 3, 7:01 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Greene, Perry, Wayne | 44 min |
| May 3, 7:04 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LIX | Saint Tammany, Tangipahoa | 41 min |
| May 3, 7:32 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | George, Greene, Perry, Stone | 58 min |
| May 3, 7:56 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | George, Stone | 49 min |
| May 3, 8:28 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Cameron, Vermilion | 32 min |
| May 3, 8:30 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | George | 50 min |
| May 3, 9:14 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | LIX | Lafourche | 31 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 00:00Z, 9.1 hours before the alert went out and 108 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
- 1673 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -2 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 590 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 27 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 259 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 286 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 2.4
- Supercell composite
- 15.1
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2, 7:09 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bienville, Caldwell, Catahoula, Claiborne, East Carroll, Franklin and 15 more | 96 min |
| May 2, 11:04 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Allen, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Bienville, Caldwell, Catahoula and 22 more | 86 min |
| May 2, 11:38 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Caldwell, Catahoula, Concordia, East Carroll, Franklin, Grant and 11 more | 6 hr |
| May 3, 2:16 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Allen, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Bienville, Caldwell, Catahoula and 22 more | 59 min |
| May 3, 4:04 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | East Feliciana, Pointe Coupee, Saint Helena, Saint Landry, West Feliciana | 56 min |
| May 3, 7:36 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Ascension, Assumption, Iberville, Orleans, Saint Bernard, Saint Charles and 4 more | 54 min |
| May 2, 7:48 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Alcorn, Benton, Bolivar, Calhoun, Coahoma, DeSoto and 15 more | 4 hr |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Louisiana, 2008Tornado Watches in Mississippi, 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.