Alert archive / Mississippi / Tornado Watches in 2009

Tornado Watch 229

May 2, 200915 counties in Alabama; 30 counties in Mississippi

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 2, 2009, 8:43 PM CDT for 15 counties in Alabama; 30 counties in Mississippi. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 2, 2009, 8:43 PM CDT (01:43 UTC)
Expired
May 3, 2009, 3:00 AM CDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
2 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 45 counties

Bibb County, AL, Blount County, AL, Chilton County, AL, Fayette County, AL, Greene County, AL, Hale County, AL, Jefferson County, AL, Lamar County, AL, Perry County, AL, Pickens County, AL, Shelby County, AL, St. Clair County, AL, Sumter County, AL, Tuscaloosa County, AL, Walker County, AL, Attala County, MS, Bolivar County, MS, Carroll County, MS, Choctaw County, MS, Clay County, MS, Grenada County, MS, Hinds County, MS, Holmes County, MS, Humphreys County, MS, Issaquena County, MS, Kemper County, MS, Lauderdale County, MS, Leake County, MS, Leflore County, MS, Lowndes County, MS, Madison 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, Sunflower County, MS, Warren County, MS, Washington County, MS, Webster County, MS, Winston County, MS, Yazoo County, MS

The radar

The Columbus AFB radar (KGWX), 116 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:43 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
50%
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
80%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 2, 8:55 PM CDTTornado WarningJANNoxubee, Winston50 min
May 2, 9:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANLowndes49 min
May 2, 9:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANAttala, Winston26 min
May 2, 9:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANIssaquena42 min
May 2, 10:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANIssaquena, Sharkey41 min
May 2, 11:12 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANHinds, Madison, Sharkey, Warren, Yazoo23 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, 1.7 hours before the alert went out and 128 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 2009-05-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 435 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 2009-05-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 110 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
435 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-9 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1438 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
44 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
110 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
166 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
3.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 2, 7:30 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBibb, Blount, Calhoun, Clay, Cullman, Etowah and 12 more60 min
May 2, 10:40 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBibb, Greene, Hale, Jefferson, Pickens, Tuscaloosa2 hr
May 3, 7:18 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBibb, Chilton, Fayette, Greene, Hale, Jefferson and 6 more57 min
May 3, 7:44 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBibb, Chilton, Fayette, Greene, Hale, Jefferson and 8 more8 hr
May 3, 9:24 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCChoctaw, Greene, Hale, Lamar, Marengo, Perry and 3 more66 min
May 3, 10:56 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAutauga, Barbour, Bibb, Bullock, Butler, Calhoun and 39 more64 min
May 3, 11:35 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAutauga, Baldwin, Barbour, Blount, Bullock, Butler and 29 more5 hr
May 3, 1:49 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAutauga, Bibb, Bullock, Butler, Calhoun, Chambers and 22 more56 min
May 3, 3:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCCoffee, Dale, Geneva, Henry, Houston3 hr
May 3, 3:13 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBarbour, Bullock, Calhoun, Chambers, Cherokee, Clay and 16 more62 min
May 3, 5:36 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCHenry84 min
May 3, 2:39 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCIssaquena, Washington2 hr
May 3, 6:54 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdams, Amite, Claiborne, Franklin, Jefferson, Warren and 1 more2 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Mississippi, 2009Tornado Watches in Alabama, 2009Every tornado watch in 2009

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.