Alert archive / Arkansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 45, NWS Memphis, TN

July 31, 1986Craighead County, Poinsett County, Arkansas

NWS Memphis, TN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 31, 1986, 3:47 PM CDT for Craighead County, Poinsett County, Arkansas. It was in force for 58 min. 2 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
Jul 31, 1986, 3:47 PM CDT (20:47 UTC)
Expired
Jul 31, 1986, 4:45 PM CDT
In force
58 min
Issued by
NWS Memphis, TN
Area
Whole counties

Counties Craighead County, AR, Poinsett County, AR

The radar

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

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jul 31, 4:20 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 0Craighead, AR
Jul 31, 4:51 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 52Poinsett, AR

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in. Storm Data before 1996 records only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail.

The nearest sounding before it

Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 12:00Z, 8.8 hours before the alert went out and 116 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 1986-07-31Temperature 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 1986-07-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -28 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
3635 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
10 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-28 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
2 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm 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, Jul 31, 2:25 PM CDT, 1 hour 22 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUPELO MS
225PM CDT THU JUL 31 1986

 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 439 IN EFFECT UNTIL 800PM CDT FOR
A PART OF NORTH MISSISSIPPI...

AT 220PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR IN TUPELO INDICATED NO
PRECIPITATION IN NORTH MISSISSIPPI. HOWEVER AN AREA OF VERY STRONG
THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING OVER NORTH ALABAMA. THE ACTIVITY IS MOVING
SOUTHEAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR.

EVEN THOUGH NO ACTIVITY IS NOTED OVER NORTH MISSISSIPPI..WE EXPECT THE
ACTIVITY TO DEVELOP RAPIDLY DURING THE HEAT OF THE DAY AND TO CONTINUE
INTO THE EVENING HOURS.

PERSONS IN NORTH MISSISSIPPI SHOULD REMAIN ALERT AND LISTEN FOR
FURTHER STATEMENTS OR POSSIBLE WARNINGS.
Special weather statement, Jul 31, 3:20 PM CDT, 27 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUPELO MS
320PM CDT THU JUL 31 1986

 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 439 IN EFFECT UNTIL 800PM CDT FOR
A PART OF NORTH MISSISSIPPI...

AT 320PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR IN TUPELO INDICATED NO
PRECIPITATION IN NORTH MISSISSIPPI AND SOUTHWEST TENNESSEE. HOWEVER AN
AREA OF INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS IS OCCURRING OVER NORTH ALABAMA. THIS
ACTIVITY IS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR.

EVEN THOUGH NO ACTIVITY IS NOTED OVER NORTH MISSISSIPPI..WE EXPECT THE
ACTIVITY TO DEVELOP RAPIDLY DURING THE HEAT OF THE DAY AND TO CONTINUE
INTO THE EVENING HOURS.

PERSONS IN NORTH MISSISSIPPI SHOULD REMAIN ALERT AND LISTEN FOR
FURTHER STATEMENTS OR POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Memphis, TN issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 31, 4:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGCraighead, Poinsett57 min
Jul 31, 6:10 PM CDTTornado WarningMEGCrittenden65 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Arkansas, 1986Every severe thunderstorm warning 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.