Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Warnings in 1987

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Little Rock, AR

May 31, 1987Faulkner County, Arkansas

NWS Little Rock, AR issued this tornado warning at May 31, 1987, 3:07 PM CDT for Faulkner County, Arkansas. It was in force for 38 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 31, 1987, 3:07 PM CDT (20:07 UTC)
Expired
May 31, 1987, 3:45 PM CDT
In force
38 min
Issued by
NWS Little Rock, AR
Area
Whole counties

County Faulkner 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, 8.1 hours before the alert went out and 220 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 1987-05-31Temperature 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 1987-05-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 18 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
3589 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
18 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
28 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 312007
TORLIT
ARC045-312100-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
307 PM CDT SUN MAY 31 1987
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL  345 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN CENTRAL ARKANSAS
          ...FAULKNER
 
AT 305 RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO 2 MILES EAST OF LAKE CONWAY
MOVING TOWARDS THE NORTHWEST AT 15 MPH. TAKE COVER!
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIxONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.
 
25

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 31, 12:17 PM CDT, 2 hours 50 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
1215 PM CDT SAT MAY 30 1987

...THUNDERSHOWERS DEVELOP ACROSS ARKANSAS...

THUNDERSHOWERS ARE RAPIDLY DEVELOPING OVER MOST SECTIONS OF ARKANSAS
DUE TO THE EXTENSIVE MOISTURE AND WARM AFTERNOON TEMPERATURES.
THE THUNDERSHOWERS MAY OCCASIONALLY BECOME STRONG DURING THE AFTERNOON
HOURS...PRODUCING LOCALLY HEAVY DOWNPOURS...HAIL AND DEADLY LIGHTNING.

IF YOU ARE OUTDOORS...TAKE PRECAUTIONS IF THUNDER IS HEARD AT YOUR
LOCATION. BOATERS AND FISHERMEN SHOULD MOVE TO SHORE...IF THUNDER IS
HEARD...TO LESSEN THE CHANCE OF BEING CAUGHT ON THE OPEN LAKE OR RIVER.

AT 1215 PM...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED ACROSS NORTHWEST
ARKANSAS AND SCATTERED OVER THE SOUTH CENTRAL PORTION AS WELL.
THE OVERALL MOVEMENT OF THE THUNDERSTORMS WAS TO THE NORTHEAST AROUND
20 MILES AN HOUR.
<
CONTINUED DEVELOPMENT OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS MAY BE EXPECTED
THROUGH THE AFTE4RNOON HOURS.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER FOR THE LATEST WEATHER STATEMENTS AND
POSSIBLE WARNINGS...SHOULD THE THUNDERSTORMS BECOMING SEVERE.

25
Special weather statement, May 31, 1:36 PM CDT, 1 hour 31 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT SMITH AR
135 PM CDT SUN MAY 31 1987

...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS IN WESTERN ARKANSAS AND
     EASTERN OKLAHOMA...

AT 130 PM CDT THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR IN FORT SMITH SHOWED
NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS IN WESTERN ARKANSAS AND EASTERN
OKLAHOMA.

THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED 5 MILES NORTHEAST OF OZARK
ARKANSAS. OTHER THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED 10 MILES EAST OF HUNTSVILLE
ARKANSAS AND 15 MILES NORTHEAST OF MC CURTAIN OKLAHOMA.

ALL SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MILES PER
HOUR.

THE STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS MAY PRODUCE VERY HEAVY RAINFALL...GUSTY
WINDS...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING6 AS THEY MOVE THROUGH THE AREA.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 31, 2:49 PM CDTTornado WarningLZKPulaski41 min
May 31, 4:04 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKJackson41 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Arkansas, 1987Every tornado warning in 1987Tornadoes 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.