Alert archive / Arkansas / Flash Flood Warnings in 1987

Flash Flood Warning 2, NWS Memphis, TN

December 24, 1987Cross County, Arkansas

NWS Memphis, TN issued this flash flood warning at Dec 24, 1987, 6:45 PM CST for Cross County, Arkansas. It was in force for 2 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Dec 24, 1987, 6:45 PM CST (00:45 UTC)
Expired
Dec 24, 1987, 8:45 PM CST
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS Memphis, TN
Area
Whole counties

County Cross 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, 0.8 hours before the alert went out and 91 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 1987-12-25Temperature 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 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 1987-12-25The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -85 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
3600 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
63 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-85 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-42 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 KMEM 250056 COR
FFWMEM
ARC037-250245-

BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
645PM CST THU DEC 24 1987

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 845PM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...

IN EAST ARKANSAS
          ...CROSS

UP TO 4 INCHES OF RAIN HAS FALLEN AND THE STREAMS IN THE AREA ARE ALL
OUT OF THEIR BANKS CAUSING HIGHWAYS AND STREETS IN AND AROUND WYNNE TO
BE IMPASSABLE.

BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE
THE DANGERS OF FLOODS AND FLASH FLOODS.  IF FLASH FLOODING IS
OBSERVED...ACT QUICKLY.  MOVE UP TO ESCAPE FLOOD WATERS.  DO
NOT STAY IN AREAS SUBJECT TO FLOODING WHEN WATER BEGINS RISING.

DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE
ROADWAY.  THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOUR CAR TO
CROSS SAFELY.  VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE
ABANDONED QUICKLY.  MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this flash flood 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, Dec 24, 5:39 PM CST, 1 hour 6 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TENNESSEE
530 PM CST THU DEC 24 1987

          ...HEAVY RAINS FALL OVER NORTHEAST ARKANSAS...

AT 530 PM THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAINS WERE LOCATED IN
NORTHEAST ARKANSAS NEAR TURRELL AND JUST NORTH OF FORREST CITY.  THESE
RAINS ALSO EXTENDED INTO WEST TENNESSEE NORTH OF MEMPHIS NEAR
COVINGTON.

THESE SHOWERS WERE LOCATED WITHIN A LARGE..NEARLY SOLID AREA OF RAIN
WHICH COVERED MOST OF NORTHEAST ARKANSAS..WEST TENNESSEE AND THE
MISSOURI BOOTHEEL.

THE HEAVIEST RAINS WILL CONTINUE MOVING INTO SHELBY AND TIPTON
COUNTIES IN WEST TENNESSEE.  STREAMS ARE ALREADY NEAR BANKFULL AND
THESE ADDITIONAL RAINS WILL CAUSE SOME STREAMS AND DITCHES TO OVERFLOW
THEIR BANKS.  DO NOT DIRVE ON FLOODED ROADWAYS AS THIS HAS BEEN THE
MOST FREQUENT CAUSE OF DEATH FROM FLOODWATERS.

THESE SHOWERS WERE MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 15 MILES AN HOUR.
Special weather statement, Dec 24, 6:39 PM CST, 6 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TENNESSEE
630 PM CST THU DEC 24 1987

          ...HEAVY RAINS FALL OVER NORTHEAST ARKANSAS...

AT 630 PM THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAINS WERE LOCATED IN
NORTHEAST ARKANSAS NEAR WYNNE TO NEAR MILLINGTON IN WEST TENNESSEE.

THESE SHOWERS WERE LOCATED WITHIN A LARGE..NEARLY SOLID AREA OF RAIN
WHICH COVERED MOST OF NORTHEAST ARKANSAS..WEST TENNESSEE AND THE
MISSOURI BOOTHEEL.

RAINFALL AMOUNTS HAVE BEEN ESTIMATED  UP TO 4 INCHES WITH THESE RAINS
AND SOME FLOODING WAS REPORTED IN CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST ARKANSAS AS
THESE STORMS PASSED THROUGH THAT AREA.  WITH STREAMS ALREADY RUNNING
NEAR BANKFULL THESE ADDITIONAL RAINS WILL CAUSE MANY STREAMS AND
DITCHES TO OVERFLOW
THEIR BANKS.  DO NOT DRIVE ON FLOODED ROADWAYS AS THIS HAS BEEN THE
MOST FREQUENT CAUSE OF DEATH FROM FLOODWATERS.

THESE SHOWERS WERE MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 15 MILES AN HOUR.

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Arkansas, 1987Every flash flood 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.