Alert archive / Mississippi / Tornado Watches in 2016

Tornado Watch 66

March 31, 201610 parishes in Louisiana; 16 counties in Mississippi

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Mar 31, 2016, 3:20 AM CDT for 10 parishes in Louisiana; 16 counties in Mississippi. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Mar 31, 2016, 3:20 AM CDT (08:20 UTC)
Expired
Mar 31, 2016, 9:00 AM CDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
1.5 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 26 counties

East Baton Rouge Parish, LA, East Feliciana Parish, LA, Livingston Parish, LA, Pointe Coupee Parish, LA, Saint Helena Parish, LA, Saint Tammany Parish, LA, Tangipahoa Parish, LA, Washington Parish, LA, West Baton Rouge Parish, LA, West Feliciana Parish, LA, Amite County, MS, Covington County, MS, Forrest County, MS, Jasper County, MS, Jefferson Davis County, MS, Jones County, MS, Lamar County, MS, Lawrence County, MS, Lincoln County, MS, Marion County, MS, Pearl River County, MS, Pike County, MS, Simpson County, MS, Smith County, MS, Walthall County, MS, Wilkinson County, MS

The radar

The Jackson/Brandon,MS radar (KDGX), 91 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 08:22 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
20%
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
50%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 31, 5:23 AM CDTTornado WarningLIXEast Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Saint Helena37 min
Mar 31, 6:02 AM CDTTornado WarningLIXTangipahoa13 min
Mar 31, 6:16 AM CDTTornado Warning Tornado observedLIXTangipahoa, Washington11 min
Mar 31, 6:23 AM CDTTornado WarningLIXTangipahoa, Washington37 min
Mar 31, 7:05 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLIXWalthall25 min
Mar 31, 7:26 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANLamar, Marion49 min
Mar 31, 7:37 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningJANMarion113 min
Mar 31, 7:53 AM CDTTornado WarningJANForrest, Lamar37 min
Mar 31, 8:13 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningJANForrest, Lamar2 hr

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, 8.3 hours before the alert went out and 96 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 2016-03-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 213 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 2016-03-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 166 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
213 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-113 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
871 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
166 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
303 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
2.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

394 
WWUS20 KWNS 310818
SEL6  
SPC WW 310818
LAZ000-MSZ000-311400-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 66
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
320 AM CDT THU MAR 31 2016

THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF 
  PARTS OF SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA
  PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI

* EFFECTIVE THIS THURSDAY MORNING FROM 320 AM UNTIL 900 AM CDT.

* PRIMARY THREATS INCLUDE...
  A COUPLE TORNADOES POSSIBLE
  ISOLATED DAMAGING WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH POSSIBLE
  ISOLATED LARGE HAIL EVENTS TO 1.5 INCHES IN DIAMETER POSSIBLE

SUMMARY...A BROKEN BAND OF STRONG/LOCALLY SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL
CONTINUE MOVING EASTWARD ACROSS PARTS OF SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI AND
ADJACENT SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA THIS MORNING.  THE STRONGEST STORMS
WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING LOCALLY DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE
HAIL...WITH A TORNADO OR TWO ALSO POSSIBLE.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 40 STATUTE
MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 50 MILES NORTH OF PINE BELT
MISSISSIPPI TO 55 MILES SOUTH OF MC COMB MISSISSIPPI.  FOR A
COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE
UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU6).

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 65...

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
500. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24035.


...GOSS

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 30, 8:39 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBienville, Bossier, Caddo, Caldwell, Claiborne, De Soto and 13 more96 min
Mar 30, 10:00 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCBienville, Caldwell, Catahoula, Claiborne, Concordia, East Carroll and 16 more6 hr
Mar 30, 11:30 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCatahoula, Concordia, East Carroll, Franklin, Madison, Morehouse and 3 more60 min
Mar 31, 3:04 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCEast Feliciana, Pointe Coupee, Saint Helena, Tangipahoa, Washington, West Feliciana86 min
Mar 31, 1:30 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAvoyelles, Caldwell, Catahoula, Concordia, East Carroll, Franklin and 12 more2 hr
Mar 31, 2:05 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAvoyelles, Bienville, Caldwell, Catahoula, Claiborne, Concordia and 20 more8 hr
Mar 31, 3:30 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAscension, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Iberville, Livingston, Pointe Coupee and 6 more2 hr
Mar 31, 5:22 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCaldwell, Catahoula, East Carroll, Franklin, Grant, Jackson and 9 more53 min
Mar 31, 7:47 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCovington, Forrest, Greene, Jefferson Davis, Jones, Lamar and 3 more58 min
Mar 31, 8:43 AM CDTTornado WatchSPCGeorge, Greene, Perry, Stone5 hr
Mar 31, 10:26 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCoahoma, DeSoto, Tate, Tunica3 hr
Mar 31, 2:35 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCAdams, Alcorn, Attala, Benton, Bolivar, Calhoun and 60 more7 hr
Mar 31, 4:47 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlcorn, Attala, Benton, Bolivar, Calhoun, Carroll and 55 more58 min
Mar 31, 5:58 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCWayne7 hr
Mar 31, 6:52 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlcorn, Calhoun, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Clarke, Clay and 29 more53 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Mississippi, 2016Tornado Watches in Louisiana, 2016Every tornado watch in 2016

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.