Alert archive / Arkansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 21, NWS Little Rock, AR
NWS Little Rock, AR issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 18, 1988, 5:16 PM CDT for Garland County, Hot Spring County, Arkansas. It was in force for 44 min. 1 report 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
- Apr 18, 1988, 5:16 PM CDT (22:16 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 18, 1988, 6:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 44 min
- Issued by
- NWS Little Rock, AR
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Garland County, AR, Hot Spring 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 18, 5:30 PM CDT | Hail 1.75 | Hot Spring, 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
Longview/Gregg, TX (KGGG), launched 12:00Z, 10.3 hours before the alert went out and 274 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 940 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -47 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 971 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 55 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 136 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 161 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.9
- Supercell composite
- 5.2
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KLIT 182217
SVRLIT
ARC051-059-182300-
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
516 PM CDT MON APR 18 1988
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LITTLE ROCK HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 600 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
IN CENTRAL ARKANSAS
...GARLAND
IN SOUTHWEST ARKANSAS
...HOT SPRING
AT 515 PM GOLFBALL SIZE HAIL WAS REPORTED AT BISMARCK IN WESTERN HOT
SPRING COUNTY. THE STORM WAS MOVING EAST AT 45 MILES AN HOUR.
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER FROM THE WEATHER IN A
STRONG BUILDING. DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN...
AND DEADLY LIGHTNING A.RE ALL POSSIBLE IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.
STAY INSIDE AWAY FROM WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.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, Apr 18, 11:22 AM CDT, 5 hours 54 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 1120 AM CDT MON APR 18 1988 SHARPLY COOLER WEATHER IS MOVING INTO ARKANSAS. AN ARCTIC COLD FRONT HAS MOVED INTO NORTHWESTERN ARKANSAS THIS MORNING AND IT IS EXPECTED TO MOVE INTO SOUTHEASTERN ARKANSAS BY THIS EVENING. AHEAD OF THE COLD FRONT...SKIES ARE PARTLY CLOUDY WITH MODERATE SOUTHWEST WIND AND TEMPERATURES ARE RISING TOWARD THE 70S. HOWEVER... BEHIND THE FRONT...IN EXTREME NORTHWESTERN ARKANSAS...SKIES ARE CLOUDY WITH PATCHES OF LIGHT RAIN...NORTH WINDS OF 10 TO 20 MILES AN HOUR ARE OCCURRING...AND TEMPERATURES AT LATE MORNING WERE ONLY IN THE MID 40S TO NEAR 50 DEGREES. AS THE COLD FRONT PASSES AN AREA THIS AFTERNOON...THE WIND WILL SHIFT TO NORTH AND REACH 10 TO 20 MILES AN HOUR WITH OCCSIONAL HIGHER GUSTS. THE TEMPERATURE MAY HOLD ABOUT STEADY FOR AWHILE...BUT LOW CLOUDS WILL SOON MOVE IN FOLLOWED BY A RAPID DROP IN TEMPERATURE. SOME LIGHT RAIN MAY OCCUR. PERSONS PLANNING OUTDOOR ACTIVITES THIS AFTERNOON...ESPECIALLY THOSE PLANNING TO ATTEND THE RACES AT OAKLAWN PARK...SHOULD TAKE SOME WARMER CLOTHES WITH THEM AS WEATHER CONDITIONS COULD DETERIORATE RAPIDLY LATE THIS AFTERNOON. PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES WITH TEMPERATURES IN THE 70S COULD TURN INTO CLOUDY SKIES WITH INTERMITTENT LIGHT RAIN...TEMPERATURES IN THE 50S AND NORTH WINDS OF 10 TO 20 MILES AN HOUR IN LESS THAN AN HOUR SOMETIME THIS AFTERNOON IN MUCH OF SOUTHWESTERN...CENTRAL...AND NORTHEASTERN ARKANSAS. 29
Special weather statement, Apr 18, 3:02 PM CDT, 2 hours 14 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 300 PM CDT MON APR 18 1988 ...SOUTHEAST CORNER OF ARKANSAS UNDER A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH... SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 25 HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR PART OF THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY AND INCLUDES THE SOUTHEAST CORNER OF ARKANSAS. THE WATCH IS IN EFFECT FROM 330 PM THIS AFTERNOON UNTIL 900 PM TONIGHT. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE DEVELOPING FAIRLY RAPIDLY ACROSS SOUTHERN ARKANSAS AS THE ATMOSPHERE IN THAT PART OF THE STATE IS BECOMING MORE UNSTABLE. AS THE AFTERNOON GOES ON...THE UNSTABILITY WILL INCREASE... ESPECIALLY AS A COLD FRONT PUSHES INTO THE AREA FROM THE NORTH. EVERYONE IN THE SOUTHERN PART OF THE STATE AND ESPECIALLY IN THE WATCH AREA SHOULD KEEP AND EYE ON THE WEATHER AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS OR WARNINGS. 39
Special weather statement, Apr 18, 3:26 PM CDT, 1 hour 50 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 325 PM CDT MON APR 18 1988 A STRONG THUNDERSTORM MOVING FROM WEST TO EAST THROUGH UNION COUNTY IS DROPPING SMALL HAIL ALONG ITS PATH. PEA SIZE HAIL HAS BEEN REPORTED AT THE EL DORADO AIRPORT AND IN THE CITY OF EL DORADO ITSELF. THE HAIL WAS REPORTED TO BE HEAVY ENOUGH TO REDUCE VISIBILITY AND COVER THE GROUND. RESIDENTS IN THE EASTERN PART OF UNION COUNTY WILL WANT TO BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THIS THUNDERSTORM AS IT MOVES THEIR WAY. OTHER STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ARE LOCATED IN BRADLEY...DESHA AND DREW COUNTIES. ALL OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING HAIL... HIGH WINDS AND BRIEF HEAVY RAINS AS THEY CONTINUE TO DEVELOP ACROSS SOUTHERN ARKANSAS. 39
The office that day
Everything else NWS Little Rock, AR issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 17, 8:48 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Hot Spring, Pulaski, Saline | 42 min |
| Apr 17, 10:16 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Desha, Lincoln | 44 min |
| Apr 18, 3:40 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Desha | 50 min |
| Apr 18, 5:33 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Clark | 27 min |
| Apr 18, 5:57 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Dallas, Hot Spring | 48 min |
| Apr 18, 5:57 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Garland | 48 min |
| Apr 18, 6:09 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Grant, Saline | 66 min |
| Apr 18, 6:36 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Pulaski | 69 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Arkansas, 1988Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1988
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.