Alert archive / Mississippi / Tornado Watches in 2021
Tornado Watch 32
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Mar 17, 2021, 12:57 PM CDT for 4 counties in Arkansas; 21 parishes in Louisiana; 38 counties in Mississippi. It was in force for 6 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Mar 17, 2021, 12:57 PM CDT (17:57 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 17, 2021, 7:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 6 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Particularly dangerous situation
- Yes
- Largest hail expected
- 2.5 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 75 kt
All 63 counties
Ashley County, AR, Chicot County, AR, Lee County, AR, Phillips County, AR, Bienville Parish, LA, Caldwell Parish, LA, Catahoula Parish, LA, Concordia Parish, LA, East Carroll 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, Red River Parish, LA, Richland Parish, LA, Sabine Parish, LA, Tensas Parish, LA, Union Parish, LA, West Carroll Parish, LA, Winn Parish, LA, Adams County, MS, Alcorn County, MS, Benton County, MS, Bolivar County, MS, Calhoun County, MS, Carroll County, MS, Chickasaw County, MS, Claiborne County, MS, Coahoma County, MS, DeSoto County, MS, Franklin County, MS, Grenada County, MS, Holmes County, MS, Humphreys County, MS, Issaquena County, MS, Jefferson County, MS, Lafayette County, MS, Lee County, MS, Leflore County, MS, Marshall County, MS, Montgomery County, MS, Panola County, MS, Pontotoc County, MS, Prentiss County, MS, Quitman County, MS, Sharkey County, MS, Sunflower County, MS, Tallahatchie County, MS, Tate County, MS, Tippah County, MS, Tishomingo County, MS, Tunica County, MS, Union County, MS, Warren County, MS, Washington County, MS, Webster County, MS, Yalobusha County, MS, Yazoo County, MS
The radar
The Jackson/Brandon,MS radar (KDGX), 147 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:00 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
- 90%
- One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
- 80%
- Ten or more severe wind reports
- 80%
- One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
- 80%
- Ten or more severe hail reports
- 60%
- One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
- 50%
- Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
- 95%
Warnings issued inside it
24 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 17, 2:08 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | SHV | Bienville, Jackson, Lincoln, Ouachita, Union | 52 min |
| Mar 17, 2:16 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | SHV | Claiborne, Lincoln, Union | 44 min |
| Mar 17, 2:32 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | SHV | Union | 43 min |
| Mar 17, 2:58 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | SHV | Lincoln, Ouachita, Union | 47 min |
| Mar 17, 3:12 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | SHV | Jackson, Lincoln, Ouachita, Union | 48 min |
| Mar 17, 3:18 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MEG | Itawamba, Prentiss, Tishomingo | 27 min |
| Mar 17, 3:33 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Ashley | 42 min |
| Mar 17, 3:34 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | SHV | Union | 10 min |
| Mar 17, 4:10 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | JAN | Adams, Franklin | 50 min |
| Mar 17, 4:17 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Calhoun, Lafayette, Pontotoc, Union | 28 min |
| Mar 17, 4:34 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Madison, Tensas | 56 min |
| Mar 17, 4:43 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Benton, Lafayette, Marshall, Union | 32 min |
| Mar 17, 4:45 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Chicot | 60 min |
| Mar 17, 4:52 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | JAN | Copiah, Jefferson, Lincoln | 37 min |
| Mar 17, 4:52 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | MEG | Itawamba, Lee, Prentiss, Tishomingo | 4 hr |
| Mar 17, 4:56 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | JAN | Chicot | 29 min |
| Mar 17, 4:56 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Chickasaw, Itawamba, Lee, Pontotoc, Prentiss, Union | 49 min |
| Mar 17, 4:58 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Calhoun, Chickasaw, Pontotoc | 20 min |
| Mar 17, 5:15 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Hinds, Madison, Rankin, Yazoo | 64 min |
| Mar 17, 5:45 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Chickasaw, Itawamba, Lee, Monroe | 45 min |
| Mar 17, 5:55 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Attala, Choctaw, Holmes, Leake, Montgomery, Neshoba and 2 more | 65 min |
| Mar 17, 5:55 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | MEG | Calhoun, Chickasaw | 4 hr |
| Mar 17, 5:55 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MEG | Chickasaw, Itawamba, Lee, Monroe | 35 min |
| Mar 17, 6:42 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Choctaw, Clay, Kemper, Lowndes, Neshoba, Noxubee and 3 more | 76 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, 6.0 hours before the alert went out and 140 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
- 687 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -86 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 713 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 61 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 218 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 178 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.6
- Supercell composite
- 4.9
The text
As transmitted.
174
WWUS20 KWNS 171755
SEL2
SPC WW 171755
ARZ000-LAZ000-MSZ000-180000-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
Tornado Watch Number 32
NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK
1155 AM CST Wed Mar 17 2021
The NWS Storm Prediction Center has issued a
* Tornado Watch for portions of
Southeast Arkansas
Northern Louisiana
Northern and western Mississippi
* Effective this Wednesday morning and evening from 1155 AM until
600 PM CST.
...THIS IS A PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION...
* Primary threats include...
Several tornadoes and a few intense tornadoes likely
Widespread damaging winds and scattered significant gusts to 85
mph likely
Scattered large hail likely with isolated very large hail events
to 2.5 inches in diameter possible
SUMMARY...Discrete supercells and linear clusters are expected to
intensify and becoming increasingly widespread across the
Ark-La-Miss region through this evening. At least a few significant
tornadoes are expected, one or more of which may become
long-tracked.
The tornado watch area is approximately along and 80 statute miles
east and west of a line from 40 miles north of Oxford MS to 25 miles
west of Alexandria LA. 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 26...WW 27...WW 28...WW
29...WW 30...WW 31...
AVIATION...Tornadoes and a few severe thunderstorms with hail
surface and aloft to 2.5 inches. Extreme turbulence and surface wind
gusts to 75 knots. A few cumulonimbi with maximum tops to 500. Mean
storm motion vector 24035.
...GramsSPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 17, 12:45 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Benton, Washington | 90 min |
| Mar 17, 1:32 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Ashley, Bradley, Calhoun, Clark, Cleveland, Columbia and 27 more | 118 min |
| Mar 17, 4:04 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Columbia, Hempstead, Lafayette, Little River, Miller, Sevier | 86 min |
| Mar 17, 4:37 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Hempstead, Howard, Lafayette, Little River, Miller, Nevada and 1 more | 5 hr |
| Mar 17, 5:34 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Arkansas, Crittenden, Cross, Desha, Lee, Lincoln and 3 more | 86 min |
| Mar 17, 5:53 AM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Arkansas, Bradley, Cleveland, Crittenden, Desha, Drew and 8 more | 7 hr |
| Mar 17, 6:40 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Calhoun, Clark, Columbia, Crawford, Dallas, Franklin and 19 more | 95 min |
| Mar 17, 7:38 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Crittenden, Lee, Monroe, Phillips, St. Francis | 67 min |
| Mar 17, 7:47 AM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Calhoun, Clark, Conway, Dallas, Faulkner, Garland and 15 more | 5 hr |
| Mar 17, 8:43 AM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Columbia, Union | 4 hr |
| Mar 17, 12:15 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Ashley, Chicot, Desha, Drew, Phillips | 90 min |
| Mar 17, 1:18 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Benton, Boone, Carroll, Clark, Crawford, Franklin and 22 more | 57 min |
| Mar 17, 2:00 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Benton, Boone, Carroll, Crawford, Franklin, Johnson and 12 more | 7 hr |
| Mar 17, 2:56 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Ashley, Chicot, Desha, Drew | 94 min |
| Mar 17, 3:37 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Baxter, Benton, Boone, Carroll, Crawford, Franklin and 5 more | 83 min |
| Mar 17, 6:09 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Crittenden, Cross | 66 min |
| Mar 17, 11:35 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Allen, Beauregard, Bienville, Calcasieu, Cameron, De Soto and 8 more | 85 min |
| Mar 17, 11:53 AM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Acadia, Allen, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron and 7 more | 6 hr |
| Mar 17, 1:45 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Ascension, Assumption, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Iberia, Iberville and 18 more | 90 min |
| Mar 17, 2:38 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Ascension, Assumption, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Iberia, Iberville and 19 more | 8 hr |
| Mar 17, 10:56 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Attala, Choctaw, Clarke, Clay, Copiah, Covington and 26 more | 2 hr |
| Mar 17, 11:36 AM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Attala, Choctaw, Clarke, Clay, Copiah, Covington and 28 more | 7 hr |
| Mar 17, 12:02 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Clarke, Jones, Wayne | 58 min |
| Mar 17, 1:19 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Jefferson Davis, Lawrence, Lincoln, Simpson, Smith | 86 min |
| Mar 17, 5:49 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Clarke, Covington, Forrest, George, Greene, Jasper and 13 more | 86 min |
| Mar 17, 6:48 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Attala, Choctaw, Clarke, Clay, Covington, Forrest and 20 more | 8 hr |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Mississippi, 2021Tornado Watches in Louisiana, 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.