Alert archive / Arkansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 21, NWS Little Rock, AR

May 3, 1987Cleburne County, Arkansas

NWS Little Rock, AR issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 3, 1987, 8:58 PM CDT for Cleburne County, Arkansas. It was in force for 47 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 3, 1987, 8:58 PM CDT (01:58 UTC)
Expired
May 3, 1987, 9:45 PM CDT
In force
47 min
Issued by
NWS Little Rock, AR
Area
Whole counties

County Cleburne 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 00:00Z, 2.0 hours before the alert went out and 205 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 00:00Z on 1987-05-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 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 00:00Z on 1987-05-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 8 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 km3 km6 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
3570 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
8 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
106 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 040158
SVRLIT
ARC023-040245-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
858 PM CDT SUN MAY 3 1987
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL  945 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN NORTH CENTRAL ARKANSAS
          ...CLEBURNE
 
AT 855 PM THIS EVENING RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IN NORTHERN
CLEBURNE COUNTY...APPROACHING DRASCO. THIS STORM IS CAPABLE OF
PRODUCING LARGE HAIL AND HIGH WINDS.
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS.  HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO
DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.
 
25

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

Local storm report, May 3, 6:26 PM CDT, 2 hours 32 minutes before
LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
630 PM CDT SUN MAY 3 1987

512 PM...GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL AT BULL SHOALS STATE PARK. RECEIVED FROM
 DEPUTY BAXTER COUNTY SHERIFF.

514 PM...MAR"BLE SIZE HAIL AT BULL SHOALS RESERVOIR. RECEIVED FROM MARION
 COUNTY SHERIFF.

550 PM...MARBLE SIZE HAIL IN YELLVILLE. FROM MARION COUNTY SHERIFF.

610 PM...HIGH WINDS...TREES DOWN 8 MILES SOUTH OF YELLVILLE. FROM
 MARION COUNTY SHERIFF.

25
Special weather statement, May 3, 7:01 PM CDT, 1 hour 57 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT SMITH AR
 700 PM CDT SUN MAY 3 1987

 ...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT CDT
FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA INCLUDING LEFLORE COUNTY...

AT 655 PM CDT FT SMITH RADAR INDICATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER
NORTH CENTRAL ARKANSAS FROM 20 MILES SOUTHEAST OF HARRISON ARKANSAS
TO LAKE NORFORK IN ARKANSAS. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WAS MOVING NORTHEAST
20 MILES AN HOUR.C HEAVY RAIN HAIL AND STRONG WINDS HAVE BEEN REPORTED
WITH THESE THUNDERSTORMS.

ELSEWHERE A FEW SCATTERED LIGHT RAIN SHOWERS WAS INDICATED OVER
SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA. THIS AREA OF SHOWERS WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT
20 MILES AN HOUR.
Special weather statement, May 3, 8:01 PM CDT, 57 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT SMITH AR
 800 PM CDT SUN MAY 3 1987

 ...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT CDT
FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA INCLUDING LEFLORE COUNTY...

AT 755 PM FT SMITH RADAR INDICATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS IN
NORTH CENTRAL ARKANSAS IN STONE AND SEARCY COUNTIES MOVING
NORTHEAST AT 20 MILES. HEAVY RAIN HAIL AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS HAS
BEEN REPORTED WITH THIS AREA OF THUNDERSTORMS.

ALSO AN LARGE AREA OF SHOWERS WITH A FEW STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WAS
INDICATED OVER SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA. THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS WAS
LOCATED 20 MILES SOUTHWEST OF MCALESTER OKLAHOMA MOVING NORTHEAST
AT 25 MILES AN HOUR.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 3, 7:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKIzard55 min
May 3, 7:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKVan Buren64 min
May 3, 8:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKCleburne, Independence60 min
May 3, 8:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKJackson65 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Arkansas, 1987Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1987

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.