Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 9, NWS Little Rock, AR

April 3, 1989Garland County, Saline County, Arkansas

NWS Little Rock, AR issued this tornado warning at Apr 3, 1989, 8:54 PM CDT for Garland County, Saline County, Arkansas. It was in force for 66 min. 3 reports 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 3, 1989, 8:54 PM CDT (01:54 UTC)
Expired: Apr 3, 1989, 10:00 PM CDT
In force: 66 min
Issued by: NWS Little Rock, AR
Area: Whole counties

Counties Garland County, AR, Saline 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
Apr 3, 9:25 PM CDT	Hail 3	Saline, AR
Apr 3, 9:50 PM CDT	Hail 0.75	Saline, AR
Apr 3, 9:50 PM CDT	Hail 0.75	Saline, 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

Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 00:00Z, 1.9 hours before the alert went out and 272 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 3544 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 44 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 161 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 336 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

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, Apr 3, 4:20 PM CDT, 4 hours 34 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
421 PM CDT MON APR 3 1989

...TORNADO WATCH CONTINUES FOR NORTHERN AND NORTHWESTERN ARKANSAS...

A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDS FROM SOUTHWEST MISSOURI INTO
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS. A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR
CARROLL COUNTY IN NORTHWEST ARKANSAS FOR THE POSSIBILITY OF LARGE HAIL
AND DAMAGING THUNDERSTORM WINDS UNTIL 5 PM TONIGHT.

WIDELY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE OVER OTHER PORTIONS OF
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS. ALL OF THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TO THE EAST
NORTHEAST AROUND 50 MILES AN HOUR.

PERSONS ACROSS THE NORTHERN PORTION OF ARKANSAS SHOULD WATCH FOR
RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS IN THEIR AREA AS THESE THUNDERSTORMS
WORK THEIR WAY EASTWARD. LARGE HAIL AND STRONG WINDS ALONG WITH THE
POSSIBILITY OF TORNADOES MAY OCCUR DURING THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.
THE TORNADO WATCH CONTINUES IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM TONIGHT.

25,

Special weather statement, Apr 3, 4:31 PM CDT, 4 hours 23 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
425 PM CDT MON APR 3 1989

...TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 78 IN EFFECT FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHERN
ARKANSAS UNTIL 9 PM...
...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING IN EFFECT FOR CARROLL COUNTY UNTIL
UNTIL 5 PM...

AT 425 PM...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM POSSIBLY CONTAINING LARGE HAIL
AND DAMAGING WINDS WAS LOCATED NEAR BERRYVILLE IN CARROLL COUNTY.
THE THUNDERSTORM WAS PART OF A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS THAT
EXTENDED FROM SOUTHERN MISSOURI ACROSS HUNTSVILLE ARKANSAS TO NEAR
CLARKSVILLE. THE THUNDERSTORMS IN THE LINE ARE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING
HAIL...STRONG WINDS AND FREQUENT DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.

MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AT 4>5 MILES AN HOUR.

104

Special weather statement, Apr 3, 4:45 PM CDT, 4 hours 9 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT SMITH AR
440 PM CDT MON APR 3 1989

...TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 78 IS IN EFFECT FOR NORTHERN AND NORTHWESTERN
ARKANSAS UNTIL 900 PM CDT TONIGHT...

RADAR AT 440 PM CDT SHOWED AN AREA OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS
NEAR HARRISON SOUTHWEST ACROSS MADISON...SOUTHEASTERN WASHINGTON
FRANKLIN AND WEST JOHNSON COUNTIES. MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH.

THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED IN EAST CARROLL COUNTY.

PERSONS IN THE AREAS OF THESE STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS CAN EXPECT
HEAVY DOWNPOURS OF RAIN...DEADLY LIGHTNING...BRIEF GUSTY WIND
AND HAIL.  PERSONS SHOULD STAY INDOORS AND OFF THE BARE GROUND
IN THE AREAS OF LIGHTNING.

E

Local storm report, Apr 3, 6:35 PM CDT, 2 hours 19 minutes before

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Local storm report, Apr 3, 6:42 PM CDT, 2 hours 12 minutes before

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The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 3, 7:02 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LZK	Cleburne	43 min
Apr 3, 7:14 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LZK	Pope	61 min
Apr 3, 7:26 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LZK	Yell	64 min
Apr 3, 7:44 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LZK	Independence, Stone	61 min
Apr 3, 7:54 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LZK	Jackson	51 min
Apr 3, 8:11 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LZK	Jackson	49 min
Apr 3, 8:19 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LZK	Garland, Montgomery	41 min
Apr 3, 8:42 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LZK	Perry, Saline	63 min
Apr 3, 8:49 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LZK	White	41 min
Apr 3, 9:11 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LZK	Hot Spring	49 min
Apr 3, 9:27 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LZK	Pulaski	63 min
Apr 3, 9:32 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LZK	Lonoke	43 min
Apr 3, 9:48 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LZK	Pulaski	42 min
Apr 3, 9:56 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LZK	Jefferson	34 min
Apr 3, 10:02 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LZK	Grant	58 min
Apr 3, 10:08 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LZK	Clark	67 min
Apr 3, 10:19 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LZK	Hot Spring	41 min
Apr 3, 11:03 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LZK	Jefferson	42 min
Apr 3, 11:27 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LZK	Arkansas	33 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Arkansas, 1989 Every tornado warning in 1989 Tornadoes in 1989

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.