Alert archive / Arkansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 79, NWS Tulsa, OK

August 19, 1987Benton County, Arkansas

NWS Tulsa, OK issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 19, 1987, 10:19 PM CDT for Benton County, Arkansas. It was in force for 56 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 19, 1987, 10:19 PM CDT (03:19 UTC)
Expired
Aug 19, 1987, 11:15 PM CDT
In force
56 min
Issued by
NWS Tulsa, OK
Area
Whole counties

County Benton 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

Springfield, MO (KUMN), launched 00:00Z, 3.3 hours before the alert went out and 74 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, Springfield, MO at 00:00Z on 1987-08-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 255 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Springfield, MO at 00:00Z on 1987-08-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 52 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
255 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-176 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2100 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
52 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
135 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLIT 200319
SVRLIT
ARC007-015-200415-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
1019 PM CDT WED AUG 19 1987

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1115 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTIES OF

ARKANSAS...BENTON AND CARROLL

AT 1015 PM CDT...RADAR INDICATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS 15 MILES
NORTH OF BENTONVILLE ARKANSAS AND 30 MILES NORTHWEST OF
EUREKA SPRINGS ARKANSAS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 40 MPH. WIND
GUSTS OF 60 MPH HAVE BEEN REPORTED WITH THESE STORMS DURING
THE PAST HOUR.

THIS THUNDERSTORM WILL LIKELY PRODUCE WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MILES
AN HOUR AND HAIL 3/4-INCH OR LARGER. SEEK SAFE SHELTER IMMEDIATELY.

BOATERS ON LAKES IN THE WARNED AREA SHOULD SEEK SAFE HARBOR UNTIL
THE STORM PASSES.

IF YOU OBSERVE ANY LARGE HAIL OR STRONG WINDS, PLEASE REPORT THEM TO
YOUR NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY.

22

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, Aug 19, 9:35 PM CDT, 44 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA, OK
934 PM CDT WED AUG 19 1987

  ...THUNDERSTORMS ARE MOVING OUT OF KANSAS INTO NORTHEASTERN OKLAHOMA...

AT 9 30 PM THE TULSA WEATHER RADAR INDICATED INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS IN
EXTREME SOUTHEASTERN KANSAS AND NORTHEASTERN OKLAHOMA. THE STRONGEST
OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS WAS JUST NORTH AND EAST OF MIAMI OKLAHOMA AND
WAS MOVING INTO SOUTHWESTERN MISSOURI.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL LIKELY PRODUCE VERY HEAVY RAIN...HAIL...AND
WIND GUSTS TO 50 MPH. BOTH HAIL AND VERY STRONG WINDS WERE REPORTED
WITH THESE STORMS AS THEY MOVED ACROSS CHANUTE KANSAS WITHIN THE PAST
HOUR.

PERSONS IN MIAMI AND VINITA SHOULD REMAIN ALERT TO THE POSSIBLITY OF
THESE STRONG THUNDERSTORMS AND SHOULD TAKE COVER IF THREATENING WEATHER
APPROACHES.
Local storm report, Aug 19, 10:00 PM CDT, 19 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA, OK
958 PM CDT WED AUG 19 1987

 TIME/CDT COUNTY      EVENT  (CD=CIVIL DEFENSE  OHP=OK HIGHWAY PAT'L)
 948  PM  OTTAWA      CD DIRECTOR REPORTED WINDS OF 65 MPH W9ITH
                      MANY WINDOWS BLOWN OUT OF DOWNTOWN AREA.
                      TREES DOWN AND POWER LINE DAMAGE ALSO REPORTED.
Local storm report, Aug 19, 10:08 PM CDT, 11 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA, OK
1007 PM CDT WED AUG 19 1987

 TIME/CDT COUNTY      EVENT  (CD=CIVIL DEFENSE  OHP=OK HIGHWAY PAT'L)
 959  PM  OTTAWA      SPOTTER IN PITCHER REPORTS WINDS TO 6G0 MPH.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Tulsa, OK issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 19, 10:34 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAMadison, Washington56 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.