Alert archive / Mississippi / Tornado Watches in 2015
Tornado Watch 562
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Dec 23, 2015, 2:17 PM CST for 17 counties in Alabama; 35 counties in Mississippi. It was in force for 6 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Dec 23, 2015, 2:17 PM CST (20:17 UTC)
- Expired
- Dec 23, 2015, 8:00 PM CST
- In force
- 6 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 1.5 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
All 52 counties
Autauga County, AL, Bibb County, AL, Chilton County, AL, Choctaw County, AL, Clarke County, AL, Dallas County, AL, Elmore County, AL, Greene County, AL, Hale County, AL, Lowndes County, AL, Marengo County, AL, Monroe County, AL, Montgomery County, AL, Perry County, AL, Sumter County, AL, Washington County, AL, Wilcox County, AL, Attala County, MS, Choctaw County, MS, Clarke County, MS, Clay County, MS, Copiah County, MS, Covington County, MS, Forrest County, MS, George County, MS, Greene County, MS, Hinds County, MS, Jasper 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, Lowndes County, MS, Madison County, MS, Marion County, MS, Neshoba County, MS, Newton County, MS, Noxubee County, MS, Oktibbeha County, MS, Perry County, MS, Rankin County, MS, Scott County, MS, Simpson County, MS, Smith County, MS, Stone County, MS, Wayne County, MS, Webster County, MS, Winston County, MS
The radar
The Jackson/Brandon,MS radar (KDGX), 103 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:17 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
- 60%
- One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
- 40%
- Ten or more severe wind reports
- 30%
- One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
- 10%
- Ten or more severe hail reports
- 20%
- One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
- 10%
- Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
- 40%
Warnings issued inside it
9 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 23, 2:17 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Jefferson Davis, Lawrence, Simpson | 43 min |
| Dec 23, 2:26 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Choctaw | 49 min |
| Dec 23, 2:30 PM CST | Tornado Warning | JAN | Simpson, Smith | 60 min |
| Dec 23, 3:38 PM CST | Tornado Warning | JAN | Newton | 16 min |
| Dec 23, 3:53 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Jones | 67 min |
| Dec 23, 4:04 PM CST | Flash Flood Warning | JAN | Jones | 3 hr |
| Dec 23, 5:09 PM CST | Tornado Warning | JAN | Clarke | 24 min |
| Dec 23, 5:29 PM CST | Flash Flood Warning | JAN | Clarke | 3 hr |
| Dec 23, 7:58 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Jefferson Davis, Simpson | 28 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, 8.3 hours before the alert went out and 112 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
- 57 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -183 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 670 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 51 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 298 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 382 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 1.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
243 WWUS20 KWNS 232015 SEL2 SPC WW 232015 ALZ000-MSZ000-240200- URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 562 NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 215 PM CST WED DEC 23 2015 THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL ALABAMA SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI * EFFECTIVE THIS WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 215 PM UNTIL 800 PM CST. * PRIMARY THREATS INCLUDE... A FEW TORNADOES LIKELY WITH A COUPLE INTENSE TORNADOES POSSIBLE ISOLATED DAMAGING WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH POSSIBLE ISOLATED LARGE HAIL EVENTS TO 1.5 INCHES IN DIAMETER POSSIBLE SUMMARY...A FEW SUPERCELLS WITHIN A WEST/EAST-ORIENTED CONVECTIVE BAND ACROSS SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI TO SOUTHWEST ALABAMA MAY PERSIST AND INTENSIFY INTO EARLY EVENING AS THEY EVOLVE TO THE EAST-NORTHEAST. ADDITIONAL STORMS OVER THE ARK-LA-MISS SHOULD INTENSIFY AND AFFECT PARTS OF CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI IN THE EARLY EVENING. THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 75 STATUTE MILES EITHER SIDE OF A LINE FROM 35 MILES SOUTHWEST OF JACKSON MISSISSIPPI TO 10 MILES NORTH OF MONTGOMERY ALABAMA. FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU2). PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... 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 558...WW 559...WW 560...WW 561... AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 1.5 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 450. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24035. ...GRAMS
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 23, 11:42 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Barbour, Bullock, Coffee, Covington, Crenshaw, Dale and 4 more | 93 min |
| Dec 23, 1:33 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Autauga, Chilton, Choctaw, Clarke, Dallas, Greene and 7 more | 57 min |
| Dec 23, 2:49 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Lauderdale | 86 min |
| Dec 23, 4:26 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Blount, Colbert, Cullman, Franklin, Jackson, Lauderdale and 7 more | 64 min |
| Dec 23, 4:49 PM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Colbert, Cullman, Franklin, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone and 2 more | 6 hr |
| Dec 23, 5:12 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Autauga, Bibb, Butler, Chilton, Choctaw, Clarke and 12 more | 63 min |
| Dec 23, 2:34 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Amite, Claiborne, Copiah, Covington, Franklin and 20 more | 86 min |
| Dec 23, 10:58 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Alcorn, Benton, Bolivar, Calhoun, Carroll, Chickasaw and 20 more | 2 hr |
| Dec 23, 11:57 AM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Alcorn, Benton, Bolivar, Calhoun, Carroll, Chickasaw and 29 more | 9 hr |
| Dec 23, 12:48 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Benton, Bolivar, Coahoma, DeSoto, Grenada, Humphreys and 13 more | 57 min |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Mississippi, 2015Tornado Watches in Alabama, 2015Every tornado watch in 2015
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.