Alert archive / Mississippi / Tornado Watches in 2020

Tornado Watch 75

March 28, 202022 counties in Alabama; 31 counties in Mississippi; Franklin County, Lincoln County, Moore County, Tennessee

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Mar 28, 2020, 9:58 PM CDT for 22 counties in Alabama; 31 counties in Mississippi; Franklin County, Lincoln County, Moore County, Tennessee. It was in force for 7 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Mar 28, 2020, 9:58 PM CDT (02:58 UTC)
Expired
Mar 29, 2020, 5:00 AM CDT
In force
7 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
1.5 in
Strongest gust expected
55 kt
All 56 counties

Blount County, AL, Colbert County, AL, Cullman County, AL, DeKalb County, AL, Fayette County, AL, Franklin County, AL, Greene County, AL, Jackson County, AL, Jefferson County, AL, Lamar County, AL, Lauderdale County, AL, Lawrence County, AL, Limestone County, AL, Madison County, AL, Marion County, AL, Marshall County, AL, Morgan County, AL, Pickens County, AL, Sumter County, AL, Tuscaloosa County, AL, Walker County, AL, Winston County, AL, Attala County, MS, Calhoun County, MS, Carroll County, MS, Chickasaw County, MS, Choctaw County, MS, Clay County, MS, Holmes County, MS, Humphreys County, MS, Issaquena County, MS, Itawamba County, MS, Kemper County, MS, Lauderdale County, MS, Leake County, MS, Lee 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, Scott County, MS, Sharkey County, MS, Tishomingo County, MS, Warren County, MS, Webster County, MS, Winston County, MS, Yazoo County, MS, Franklin County, TN, Lincoln County, TN, Moore County, TN

The radar

The Columbus AFB radar (KGWX), 46 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:59 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
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
20%
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
70%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 28, 10:08 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANHumphreys, Leflore, Sharkey, Sunflower, Washington31 min
Mar 28, 10:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGAlcorn, Lee, Prentiss, Tippah, Tishomingo, Union16 min
Mar 28, 11:22 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGAlcorn, Itawamba, Lafayette, Lee, Pontotoc, Prentiss and 2 more38 min
Mar 29, 12:45 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHUNLauderdale30 min
Mar 29, 1:02 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHUNColbert, Franklin28 min
Mar 29, 1:11 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANLeake, Rankin, Scott29 min
Mar 29, 1:11 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGItawamba, Lee, Prentiss, Tishomingo49 min
Mar 29, 1:30 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANNoxubee, Oktibbeha, Winston45 min
Mar 29, 1:31 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANClay, Lowndes, Oktibbeha44 min
Mar 29, 1:33 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHUNLincoln, Moore27 min
Mar 29, 1:36 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANLeake, Neshoba39 min
Mar 29, 1:37 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHUNColbert, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone38 min
Mar 29, 1:50 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGMonroe25 min
Mar 29, 1:53 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLamar37 min
Mar 29, 2:04 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANKemper, Noxubee41 min
Mar 29, 2:08 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFayette, Marion52 min
Mar 29, 2:20 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHUNLimestone, Madison25 min
Mar 29, 2:27 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXWalker, Winston48 min
Mar 29, 2:33 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPickens42 min
Mar 29, 2:42 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHUNFranklin, Lincoln, Moore33 min
Mar 29, 2:52 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHUNCullman, Lawrence, Limestone, Madison, Marshall, Morgan38 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

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 3.0 hours before the alert went out and 139 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, Birmingham, AL at 00:00Z on 2020-03-29Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 108 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, Birmingham, AL at 00:00Z on 2020-03-29The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 115 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
108 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-329 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1672 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
55 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
115 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
157 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

537 
WWUS20 KWNS 290255
SEL5  
SPC WW 290255
ALZ000-LAZ000-MSZ000-TNZ000-290900-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
Tornado Watch Number 75
NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK
1000 PM CDT Sat Mar 28 2020

The NWS Storm Prediction Center has issued a

* Tornado Watch for portions of 
  Northwest Alabama
  Far northeast Louisiana
  West-central to northeast Mississippi
  Far southern middle Tennessee

* Effective this Saturday night and Sunday morning from 1000 PM
  until 400 AM CDT.

* Primary threats include...
  A couple tornadoes possible
  Scattered damaging wind gusts to 65 mph possible
  Isolated large hail events to 1.5 inches in diameter possible

SUMMARY...Thunderstorm clusters will likely progress east-northeast
from the Ark-La-Miss region into the Tennessee Valley overnight,
offering a risk for a couple tornadoes and scattered damaging winds.

The tornado watch area is approximately along and 60 statute miles
east and west of a line from 40 miles north of Huntsville AL to 130
miles southwest of Columbus MS. For a complete depiction of the
watch see the associated watch outline update (WOUS64 KWNS WOU5).

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 71...WW 72...WW 73...WW
74...

AVIATION...Tornadoes and a few severe thunderstorms with hail
surface and aloft to 1.5 inches. Extreme turbulence and surface wind
gusts to 55 knots. A few cumulonimbi with maximum tops to 450. Mean
storm motion vector 24045.

...Grams

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 28, 8:25 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCColbert, Franklin, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Marion95 min
Mar 28, 11:27 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCColbert, Franklin, Lamar, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone and 2 more93 min
Mar 29, 1:50 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCJackson, Lawrence, Limestone, Madison85 min
Mar 29, 2:17 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBlount, Cullman, Fayette, Jefferson, Lamar, Marion and 4 more88 min
Mar 28, 7:46 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAttala, Claiborne, Hinds, Holmes, Humphreys, Issaquena and 7 more89 min
Mar 28, 9:34 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCBedford, Cannon, Cheatham, Clay, Coffee, Cumberland and 28 more6 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Mississippi, 2020Tornado Watches in Alabama, 2020Tornado Watches in Tennessee, 2020Every tornado watch in 2020

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.