Alert archive / Louisiana / Tornado Watches in 2021

Tornado Watch 146

May 4, 20218 counties in Arkansas; 37 parishes in Louisiana; 15 counties in Mississippi

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 4, 2021, 10:52 AM CDT for 8 counties in Arkansas; 37 parishes in Louisiana; 15 counties in Mississippi. It was in force for 7 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 4, 2021, 10:52 AM CDT (15:52 UTC)
Expired
May 4, 2021, 5:32 PM CDT
In force
7 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
2.5 in
Strongest gust expected
70 kt
All 60 counties

Ashley County, AR, Bradley County, AR, Calhoun County, AR, Chicot County, AR, Columbia County, AR, Desha County, AR, Drew County, AR, Union County, AR, Allen Parish, LA, Avoyelles Parish, LA, Beauregard Parish, LA, Bienville Parish, LA, Bossier Parish, LA, Caddo Parish, LA, Caldwell Parish, LA, Catahoula Parish, LA, Claiborne Parish, LA, Concordia Parish, LA, De Soto Parish, LA, East Carroll Parish, LA, East Feliciana Parish, LA, Evangeline Parish, LA, Franklin Parish, LA, Grant Parish, LA, Jackson Parish, LA, LaSalle Parish, LA, Lincoln Parish, LA, Madison Parish, LA, Morehouse Parish, LA, Natchitoches Parish, LA, Ouachita Parish, LA, Pointe Coupee Parish, LA, Rapides Parish, LA, Red River Parish, LA, Richland Parish, LA, Sabine Parish, LA, Saint Helena Parish, LA, Saint Landry Parish, LA, Tensas Parish, LA, Union Parish, LA, Vernon Parish, LA, Webster Parish, LA, West Carroll Parish, LA, West Feliciana Parish, LA, Winn Parish, LA, Adams County, MS, Amite County, MS, Bolivar County, MS, Claiborne County, MS, Franklin County, MS, Grenada County, MS, Humphreys County, MS, Issaquena County, MS, Jefferson County, MS, Leflore County, MS, Sharkey County, MS, Sunflower County, MS, Warren County, MS, Washington County, MS, Wilkinson County, MS

The radar

The Ft Polk radar (KPOE), 131 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 15:52 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
80%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
40%
Ten or more severe hail reports
40%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
40%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
95%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 4, 11:07 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVDe Soto38 min
May 4, 11:10 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVBienville, Bossier, Caddo, De Soto, Webster50 min
May 4, 11:14 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVBossier, Caddo, De Soto31 min
May 4, 11:24 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVBienville, Claiborne, Jackson, Lincoln51 min
May 4, 11:43 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKDesha, Drew62 min
May 4, 11:52 AM CDTTornado WarningLCHBeauregard, Vernon23 min
May 4, 11:57 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANAshley78 min
May 4, 12:05 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVBienville, De Soto, Natchitoches, Red River, Sabine40 min
May 4, 12:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVNatchitoches, Sabine43 min
May 4, 12:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANChicot72 min
May 4, 12:25 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVBienville, Jackson, Lincoln, Ouachita, Union65 min
May 4, 12:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVUnion47 min
May 4, 12:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANChicot75 min
May 4, 12:37 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningJANAshley, Chicot3 hr
May 4, 12:41 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVBienville, Jackson, Natchitoches, Winn64 min
May 4, 12:44 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningLZKDesha, Drew3 hr
May 4, 12:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVGrant, LaSalle, Winn57 min
May 4, 12:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVCaldwell, Jackson, LaSalle52 min
May 4, 12:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANEast Carroll, Franklin, Madison, Richland, West Carroll76 min
May 4, 1:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANCatahoula, Concordia, Franklin, Tensas75 min
May 4, 1:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANLeflore, Sunflower59 min
May 4, 1:22 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANHolmes, Humphreys, Issaquena, Sharkey, Washington, Yazoo71 min
May 4, 1:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANEast Carroll, Madison53 min
May 4, 1:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANCarroll, Grenada, Montgomery75 min
May 4, 1:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANTensas78 min
May 4, 2:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHAvoyelles, Evangeline, Rapides, Saint Landry44 min
May 4, 2:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLIXPointe Coupee, West Feliciana64 min
May 4, 2:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANCopiah, Franklin, Jefferson Davis, Lawrence, Lincoln, Simpson80 min
May 4, 2:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLIXEast Feliciana, Pointe Coupee, West Feliciana47 min
May 4, 3:33 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLIXEast Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Saint Helena, Tangipahoa, Washington, West Feliciana42 min
May 4, 4:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLIXEast Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Saint Helena, Saint Tammany, Tangipahoa, Washington65 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

Shreveport, LA (KSHV), launched 12:00Z, 3.9 hours before the alert went out and 131 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, Shreveport, LA at 12:00Z on 2021-05-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2618 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Shreveport, LA at 12:00Z on 2021-05-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 208 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
2618 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-96 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
873 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
44 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
208 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
182 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.3
Supercell composite
6.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

137 
WWUS20 KWNS 041550
SEL6  
SPC WW 041550
ARZ000-LAZ000-MSZ000-042300-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
Tornado Watch Number 146
NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK
1055 AM CDT Tue May 4 2021

The NWS Storm Prediction Center has issued a

* Tornado Watch for portions of 
  Southern Arkansas
  Northern and central Louisiana
  Western Mississippi

* Effective this Tuesday morning and evening from 1055 AM until
  600 PM CDT.

* Primary threats include...
  A few tornadoes possible
  Widespread damaging winds likely with isolated significant gusts
    to 80 mph possible
  Scattered large hail and isolated very large hail events to 2.5
    inches in diameter possible

SUMMARY...Multiple clusters with embedded supercells will develop
east across the region this afternoon before consolidating into one
or more squall lines across the Mississippi Valley later this
afternoon.

The tornado watch area is approximately along and 100 statute miles
north and south of a line from 30 miles west of Natchitoches LA to
60 miles northeast of Natchez MS. 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 142...WW 143...WW
144...WW 145...

AVIATION...Tornadoes and a few severe thunderstorms with hail
surface and aloft to 2.5 inches. Extreme turbulence and surface wind
gusts to 70 knots. A few cumulonimbi with maximum tops to 600. Mean
storm motion vector 25045.

...Grams

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 3, 8:38 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCArkansas, Baxter, Boone, Calhoun, Carroll, Clark and 60 more2 hr
May 3, 9:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBaxter, Benton, Boone, Calhoun, Carroll, Clark and 50 more7 hr
May 3, 10:22 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBoone, Crawford, Franklin, Johnson, Madison, Marion and 2 more83 min
May 3, 11:34 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaxter, Boone, Carroll, Clark, Cleburne, Conway and 27 more86 min
May 4, 1:06 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCClay, Craighead, Crittenden, Cross, Greene, Jackson and 5 more114 min
May 4, 1:41 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCClay, Craighead, Crittenden, Cross, Greene, Mississippi and 2 more6 hr
May 4, 2:02 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCClay, Conway, Craighead, Cross, Faulkner, Garland and 16 more88 min
May 4, 4:17 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCrittenden88 min
May 4, 6:44 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBradley, Calhoun, Clark, Cleveland, Columbia, Dallas and 8 more2 hr
May 4, 11:58 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCrittenden, Lee, Phillips2 hr
May 4, 12:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCPhillips5 hr
May 4, 1:59 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCleburne, Conway, Craighead, Cross, Faulkner, Greene and 17 more2 hr
May 4, 8:33 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAvoyelles, Caldwell, Catahoula, Concordia, East Carroll, East Feliciana and 14 more117 min
May 4, 12:16 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCaldwell, Catahoula, Concordia, East Carroll, Franklin, Grant and 9 more89 min
May 4, 3:31 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCEast Baton Rouge, Livingston, Saint Tammany, Tangipahoa, Washington, West Baton Rouge6 hr
May 4, 4:46 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCSaint Tammany, Tangipahoa, Washington89 min
May 4, 9:03 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCClay, Lowndes, Monroe, Oktibbeha117 min
May 4, 9:18 AM CDTTornado WatchSPCAttala, Carroll, Choctaw, Clarke, Clay, Copiah and 26 more7 hr
May 4, 2:17 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAttala, Choctaw, Claiborne, Clarke, Copiah, Covington and 26 more88 min
May 4, 3:03 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCChickasaw, Choctaw, Clay, Itawamba, Kemper, Lowndes and 5 more117 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Louisiana, 2021Tornado Watches in Mississippi, 2021Tornado Watches in Arkansas, 2021Every tornado watch in 2021

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.