Alert archive / Mississippi / Tornado Watches in 2024
Tornado Watch 252
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 16, 2024, 10:53 PM CDT for Baldwin County, Mobile County, Alabama; 4 counties in Mississippi. It was in force for 4 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- May 16, 2024, 10:53 PM CDT (03:53 UTC)
- Expired
- May 17, 2024, 3:00 AM CDT
- In force
- 4 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 1.5 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
Counties Baldwin County, AL, Mobile County, AL, Hancock County, MS, Harrison County, MS, Jackson County, MS, Pearl River County, MS
The radar
The Mobile radar (KMOB), 72 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:58 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
- 30%
- One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
- 10%
- Ten or more severe wind reports
- 20%
- One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
- 10%
- 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
- 40%
Warnings issued inside it
6 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 16, 11:24 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LIX | Hancock, Pearl River | 66 min |
| May 16, 11:57 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | LIX | Hancock, Harrison, Jackson, Pearl River | 2 hr |
| May 17, 12:05 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LIX | Hancock, Harrison, Pearl River | 55 min |
| May 17, 12:58 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LIX | Harrison, Jackson | 36 min |
| May 17, 1:38 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Baldwin, Mobile | 37 min |
| May 17, 2:10 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Baldwin | 50 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
Slidell Radar S, LA (KSIL), launched 00:00Z, 3.9 hours before the alert went out and 76 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
- 61 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -248 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1098 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 46 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 28 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 86 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.1
The text
As transmitted.
965 WWUS20 KWNS 170351 SEL2 SPC WW 170351 ALZ000-MSZ000-CWZ000-170800- URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED Tornado Watch Number 252 NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK 1050 PM CDT Thu May 16 2024 The NWS Storm Prediction Center has issued a * Tornado Watch for portions of Southern Alabama Southern Mississippi Coastal Waters * Effective this Thursday night and Friday morning from 1050 PM until 300 AM CDT. * Primary threats include... A couple tornadoes possible Isolated damaging wind gusts to 70 mph possible SUMMARY...A severe squall line over southeast Louisiana will continue east and move into the Watch area tonight. In addition to the risk for a couple of tornadoes, severe gusts (60-70 mph) capable of wind damage may accompany the more intense thunderstorm cores and outflow surges in the squall line. The tornado watch area is approximately along and 30 statute miles north and south of a line from 35 miles west of Gulfport MS to 30 miles southeast of Mobile AL. 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 250...WW 251... 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 27035. ...Smith
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 17, 2:31 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Baldwin, Coffee, Conecuh, Covington, Dale, Escambia and 4 more | 2 hr |
| May 17, 2:59 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Coffee, Covington, Dale, Escambia, Geneva, Henry and 1 more | 6 hr |
| May 17, 5:32 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Geneva | 88 min |
| May 16, 10:09 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Hancock | 2 hr |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Mississippi, 2024Tornado Watches in Alabama, 2024Every tornado watch in 2024
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.