Alert archive / Mississippi / Tornado Watches in 2019
Tornado Watch 708
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Dec 29, 2019, 2:56 PM CST for 16 counties in Alabama; 40 counties in Mississippi. It was in force for 6 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Dec 29, 2019, 2:56 PM CST (20:56 UTC)
- Expired
- Dec 29, 2019, 9:00 PM CST
- In force
- 6 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 0.5 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
All 56 counties
Colbert County, AL, Cullman County, AL, Fayette County, AL, Franklin County, AL, Greene County, AL, Lamar County, AL, Lauderdale County, AL, Lawrence County, AL, Limestone County, AL, Marion County, AL, Morgan County, AL, Pickens County, AL, Sumter County, AL, Tuscaloosa County, AL, Walker County, AL, Winston County, AL, Adams County, MS, Attala County, MS, Calhoun County, MS, Carroll County, MS, Chickasaw County, MS, Choctaw County, MS, Claiborne County, MS, Clay County, MS, Copiah County, MS, Franklin County, MS, Grenada County, MS, Hinds County, MS, Holmes County, MS, Itawamba County, MS, Jefferson County, MS, Kemper County, MS, Lauderdale County, MS, Lawrence County, MS, Leake County, MS, Lee County, MS, Lincoln County, MS, Lowndes County, MS, Madison County, MS, Monroe County, MS, Montgomery County, MS, Neshoba County, MS, Newton County, MS, Noxubee County, MS, Oktibbeha County, MS, Pontotoc County, MS, Prentiss County, MS, Rankin County, MS, Scott County, MS, Simpson County, MS, Smith County, MS, Tishomingo County, MS, Warren County, MS, Webster County, MS, Winston County, MS, Yazoo County, MS
The radar
The Jackson/Brandon,MS radar (KDGX), 77 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:59 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
- 50%
- One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
- 20%
- Ten or more severe wind reports
- 40%
- One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
- 20%
- Ten or more severe hail reports
- 5%
- One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
- 5%
- Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
- 50%
Warnings issued inside it
14 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 29, 3:03 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Claiborne, Copiah, Hinds, Jefferson | 42 min |
| Dec 29, 3:11 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Attala, Holmes, Leake, Madison, Rankin, Scott and 1 more | 64 min |
| Dec 29, 3:35 PM CST | Tornado Warning | JAN | Attala, Leake, Madison | 40 min |
| Dec 29, 3:46 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Attala, Choctaw, Montgomery, Webster | 44 min |
| Dec 29, 4:02 PM CST | Tornado Warning | JAN | Attala, Choctaw, Clay, Oktibbeha, Webster, Winston | 43 min |
| Dec 29, 4:42 PM CST | Tornado Warning | JAN | Clay, Lowndes, Oktibbeha | 48 min |
| Dec 29, 4:52 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Chickasaw, Monroe | 53 min |
| Dec 29, 5:08 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lamar, Marion | 52 min |
| Dec 29, 5:12 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Kemper, Lauderdale, Neshoba, Newton | 48 min |
| Dec 29, 5:18 PM CST | Tornado Warning | JAN | Kemper, Lauderdale, Neshoba, Newton | 57 min |
| Dec 29, 5:28 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Marion | 10 min |
| Dec 29, 5:30 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HUN | Colbert, Franklin, Lawrence | 45 min |
| Dec 29, 5:34 PM CST | Tornado Warning | JAN | Lowndes, Noxubee | 56 min |
| Dec 29, 6:03 PM CST | Tornado Warning | JAN | Kemper, Noxubee | 42 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, 8.9 hours before the alert went out and 79 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
- 3 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -63 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 856 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 62 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 180 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 176 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted.
502 WWUS20 KWNS 292052 SEL8 SPC WW 292052 ALZ000-MSZ000-300300- URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED Tornado Watch Number 708 NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK 255 PM CST Sun Dec 29 2019 The NWS Storm Prediction Center has issued a * Tornado Watch for portions of Northwest Alabama Central and Northeast Mississippi * Effective this Sunday afternoon and evening from 255 PM until 900 PM CST. * Primary threats include... A few tornadoes possible Scattered damaging wind gusts to 70 mph possible SUMMARY...An increasingly organized cluster of thunderstorms over western Mississippi will track rapidly northeastward across the watch area this afternoon and evening. Damaging winds and a few tornadoes are possible with the more intense cells. The tornado watch area is approximately along and 60 statute miles east and west of a line from 35 miles east southeast of Natchez MS to 30 miles northeast of Muscle Shoals AL. For a complete depiction of the watch see the associated watch outline update (WOUS64 KWNS WOU8). 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. && AVIATION...Tornadoes and a few severe thunderstorms with hail surface and aloft to 0.5 inches. Extreme turbulence and surface wind gusts to 60 knots. A few cumulonimbi with maximum tops to 450. Mean storm motion vector 24050. ...Hart
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 29, 4:47 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Fayette, Franklin, Lamar, Lawrence, Marion, Winston | 88 min |
| Dec 29, 12:58 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Avoyelles, Catahoula, Concordia, Evangeline, Franklin, LaSalle and 3 more | 3 hr |
| Dec 29, 3:36 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Attala, Choctaw, Leake, Madison, Neshoba, Oktibbeha and 2 more | 54 min |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Mississippi, 2019Tornado Watches in Alabama, 2019Every tornado watch in 2019
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.