Alert archive / Mississippi / Tornado Watches in 2013

Tornado Watch 59

March 23, 201331 counties in Mississippi

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Mar 23, 2013, 5:21 PM CDT for 31 counties in Mississippi. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Mar 23, 2013, 5:21 PM CDT (22:21 UTC)
Expired
Mar 23, 2013, 10:56 PM CDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
2 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 31 counties

Adams County, MS, Amite County, MS, Claiborne County, MS, Clarke County, MS, Copiah County, MS, Covington County, MS, Forrest County, MS, Franklin County, MS, Hinds County, MS, Jasper County, MS, Jefferson County, MS, Jefferson Davis County, MS, Jones County, MS, Kemper County, MS, Lamar County, MS, Lauderdale County, MS, Lawrence County, MS, Leake County, MS, Lincoln County, MS, Madison County, MS, Marion County, MS, Neshoba County, MS, Newton County, MS, Pike County, MS, Rankin County, MS, Scott County, MS, Simpson County, MS, Smith County, MS, Walthall County, MS, Warren County, MS, Wilkinson County, MS

The radar

The Jackson/Brandon,MS radar (KDGX), 21 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:20 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
30%
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

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 23, 5:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANLauderdale, Newton39 min
Mar 23, 6:04 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANNeshoba, Newton41 min
Mar 23, 6:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANKemper, Lauderdale18 min
Mar 23, 6:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANKemper58 min
Mar 23, 7:34 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANAttala, Holmes, Leake, Madison, Yazoo56 min
Mar 23, 8:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANKemper, Neshoba, Noxubee, Winston43 min
Mar 23, 9:09 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANCopiah, Hinds, Rankin, Simpson66 min
Mar 23, 9:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANKemper, Noxubee35 min
Mar 23, 9:41 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANRankin, Scott64 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, 10.4 hours before the alert went out and 26 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 2013-03-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 18 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 12:00Z on 2013-03-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 250 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
18 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-308 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
445 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
60 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
250 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
168 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

812 
WWUS20 KWNS 232222
SEL9  
SPC WW 232222
MSZ000-240600-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 59
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
520 PM CDT SAT MAR 23 2013

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

       PARTS OF SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI

EFFECTIVE THIS SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND SUNDAY MORNING FROM 520 PM
UNTIL 100 AM 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 APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 60 STATUTE
MILES NORTH AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 55 MILES NORTHWEST OF MC
COMB MISSISSIPPI TO 25 MILES EAST SOUTHEAST OF MERIDIAN
MISSISSIPPI.  FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE
ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU9).

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...CONTINUE...WW 58...

DISCUSSION...THE ENVIRONMENT IS BECOMING INCREASING CONDUCIVE TO
SUPERCELLS ACROSS THE WATCH AREA THIS EVENING.  AS LOW-LEVEL WIND
FIELDS STRENGTHEN IN RESPONSE TO A DEVELOPING SURFACE LOW ACROSS THE
LOWER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY...STORMS MAY BECOME CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A
COUPLE OF TORNADOES...IN ADDITION TO LARGE HAIL AND LOCALLY DAMAGING
WIND GUSTS.

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
450. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 25040.


...KERR

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 22, 8:16 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAttala, Bolivar, Carroll, Choctaw, Claiborne, Copiah and 18 more119 min
Mar 23, 3:41 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlcorn, Benton, Calhoun, Carroll, Chickasaw, Choctaw and 24 more64 min
Mar 23, 12:35 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCForrest, George, Greene, Hancock, Harrison, Jackson and 6 more85 min
Mar 23, 12:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCClarke, Covington, Forrest, George, Greene, Jones and 5 more9 hr
Mar 23, 2:52 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCClarke, George, Greene, Lauderdale, Perry, Wayne83 min
Mar 23, 5:01 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdams, Attala, Carroll, Choctaw, Claiborne, Copiah and 28 more119 min
Mar 23, 5:22 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCClarke, George, Greene, Lauderdale, Perry, Wayne53 min
Mar 23, 5:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAttala, Bolivar, Calhoun, Carroll, Chickasaw, Choctaw and 29 more5 hr
Mar 23, 6:49 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAttala, Carroll, Choctaw, Clay, Holmes, Humphreys and 15 more116 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Mississippi, 2013Every tornado watch in 2013

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.