Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Warnings in 1986

Tornado Warning 9, NWS Little Rock, AR

May 10, 1986White County, Arkansas

NWS Little Rock, AR issued this tornado warning at May 10, 1986, 5:46 PM CDT for White County, Arkansas. It was in force for 44 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 10, 1986, 5:46 PM CDT (22:46 UTC)
Expired
May 10, 1986, 6:30 PM CDT
In force
44 min
Issued by
NWS Little Rock, AR
Area
Whole counties

County White County, AR

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

The nearest sounding before it

Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 12:00Z, 10.8 hours before the alert went out and 170 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, Little Rock, AR at 12:00Z on 1986-05-10Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Little Rock, AR at 12:00Z on 1986-05-10The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 71 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
3591 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
17 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
71 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
74 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KLIT 102246
TORLIT
ARC145-102330-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
546 PM CDT SAT MAY 10 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 630 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY IN

ARK........WHITE

AT 546 PM A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED NEAR HICKORY
PLAINS ARKANSAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MILES AN HOUR. FUNNEL
CLOUDS HAVE BEEN REPORTED WITH THIS THUNDERSTORM.

GET OUT OF MOBILE HOMES INTO A REINFORCED SHELTER BEFORE THE STORM
APPROACHES YOUR AREA. EVEN WELL ANCHORED MOBILE HOMES ARE VUNERABLE
TO BEING OVERTURNED OR DESTROYED BY A TORNADO.

IF IN A VEHICLE.. PARK IT AND GET INTO A BUILDING OR SHELTER. DO
NOT TRY TO OUTRUN OR EVADE THE TORNADO.

IF IN OPEN COUNTRY OR NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE.. THE BEST PROTECTION
IS TO LIE FLAT IN A DITCH OR DEPRESSION.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL RADIO OR TV STATIONS FOR
THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION

16

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 10, 1:37 PM CDT, 4 hours 9 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
135 PM CDT SAT MAY 10 1986

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS BEGIN MOVING INTO CENTRAL ARKANSAS..

AT 130 PM...RADAR INDICATED A NARROW BAND OF THUNDERSTORMS IN CENTRAL
ARKANSAS FROM CONWAY COUNTY INTO NORTHERN HOT SPRING COUNTY. THE
STRONGEST THUNDERSTORM ALONG THIS BAND WAS LOCATED ALONG THE SALINE
COUNTY AND PULASKI COUNTY LINE..JUST TO THE SOUTH OF LAKE MAUMELLE.

THUNDERSTORMS WITHIN THIS BAND WERE MOVING NORTH AT 20 MILES AN HOUR.
THIS WOULD TAKE THE THUNDERSTORMS DIRECTLY OVER LAKE MAUMELLE BY 2 PM.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS CONTAIN DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND POSSIBLY STRONG
WINDS OR SMALL HAIL. WEEKEND BOATERS ON LAKE MAUMELLE ARE URGED TO
EXERCISE CAUTION THIS AFTERNOON AS THESE THUNDERSTORMS MOVE ACROSS
THE LAKE.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR FURTHER UPDATES AND STATEMENTS.

41
Special weather statement, May 10, 2:22 PM CDT, 3 hours 24 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
220 PM CDT SAT MAY 10 1986

...THUNDERSTORMS HAVE INTENSIFIED OVER PARTS OF CENTRAL ARKANSAS...

AT 215 PM...RADAR INDICATED AN AREA OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS THAT
COVERED PORTIONS OF CENTRAL ARKANSAS. SOME OF THE THUNDERSTORMS WITHIN
THE AREA HAD INTENSIFIED SINCE 2 PM THIS AFTERNOON.

THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS IN CENTRAL ARKANSAS WERE LOCATED SOUTHWEST
OF SHERIDAN IN CENTRAL GRANT COUNTY..BETWEEN CONWAY AND LITTLE ROCK..
AND SOUTH OF DAMASCUS IN NORTHERN FAULKNER COUNTY. THESE THUNDERSTORMS
WERE MOVING NORTH AROUND 15 MILES AN HOUR.

WHILE RADAR CURRENTLY INDICATES THAT THESE STORMS ARE
NOT SEVERE..THEY CERTAINLY HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE STRONG
WINDS AND SMALL HAIL. IN ADDITION..REPORTS INDICATE THAT THESE STORMS
ARE PRODUCING FREQUENT AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.
<
PLEASE STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR FURTHER UPDATES AND
STATEMENTS.

41
Special weather statement, May 10, 3:06 PM CDT, 2 hours 40 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
310 PM CDT SAT MAY 10 1986

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS APPROACH LITTLE ROCK-NORTH LITTLE ROCK AREA...

AT 300 PM...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS APPROACHING THE LITTLE ROCK METRO
AREA FROM THE SOUTH. THIS STORM SHOULD ARRIVE IN THE LITTLE ROCK AREA
BETWEEN 315 AND 330 THIS AFTERNOON.

GUSTY SURFACE WINDS..TORRENTIAL DOWNPOURS AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING MAY
BE EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM. THE STORM WAS MOVING TO THE NORTH AT
30 MILES AN HOUR.

SOME URBAN FLOODING MAY RESULT FROM THE HEAVY RAINS AND MOTORISTS ARE
URGED TO USE CAUTION AS THIS STORM MOVES IN.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION.

25
PLEASE STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR FURTHER UPDATES AND
STATEMENTS.

41
Local storm report, May 10, 4:05 PM CDT, 1 hour 41 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
405 PM CDT SAT MAY 10 1986

255-325 PM...IN A 30 MINUTE PERIOD, 1.25 INCHES OF RAIN FELL IN
   SOUTHWEST LITTLE ROCK. BRIEF STREET FLOODING RESULTE8D.

28

The office that day

Everything else NWS Little Rock, AR issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 10, 5:12 PM CDTTornado WarningLZKPrairie48 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Arkansas, 1986Every tornado warning in 1986Tornadoes in 1986

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.