Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Warnings in 1989
Tornado Warning 10, NWS Memphis, TN
NWS Memphis, TN issued this tornado warning at Apr 3, 1989, 9:10 PM CDT for Mississippi County, Arkansas. It was in force for 35 min. 2 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, 9:10 PM CDT (02:10 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 3, 1989, 9:45 PM CDT
- In force
- 35 min
- Issued by
- NWS Memphis, TN
- Area
- Whole counties
County Mississippi 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 3, 9:30 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 0 | Mississippi, AR | |
| Apr 3, 9:46 PM CDT | Tornado F1 | Mississippi, 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, 2.2 hours before the alert went out and 104 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
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KMEM 040211
TORMEM
ARC093-040245-
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
910 PM CDT MON APR 3 1989
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 945 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
IN EAST ARKANSAS
...WESTERN MISSISSIPPI
AT 905 PM WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A POTENTIAL TORNADO AND STORM
SPOTTERS OBSERVED FUNNEL CLOUDS WITH A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM MOVING EAST
OVER THE EASTERN PART OF CRAIGHEAD COUNTY TOWARD THE WEST PART OF
MISSISSIPPI COUNTY. THIS THUNDERSTORM AND POSSIBLE TORNADO WILL MOVE
INTO WEST MISSISSIPPI COUNTY NEAR MILLIGAN RIDGE...ETOWAH... AND
MANILA BETWEEN 910 PM AND 925 PM THIS EVENING. A TORNADO IS REPORTED
TO HAVE ALREADY OCCURRED WITH THIS THUNDERSTORM AS IT MOVED THROUGH
THE JONESBORO AREA.
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION. ACT QUICKLY. IF YOU ARE
IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF
AVAILABLE. OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR POSSIBLE. AVOID WINDOWS. ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES
FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.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, 7:05 PM CDT, 2 hours 5 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN 700 PM CDT MON APR 03 1989 ...TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 78 CONTINUES TO AFFECT PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST ARKANAS... ...LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS MOVING TOWARD NORTHEAST ARKANSAS... A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS AT 7 PM EXTENDED FROM SOUTH OF CAPE GIRARDEAU MISSOURI TO NORTH-CENTRAL ARKANSAS NEAR VAN BUREN. THESE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE HAD HISTORY OF PRODUCING HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. THIS LINE IS MOVING SOUTHEAST AROUND 20 MPH SO IN A COUPLE OF HOURS THE LINE SHOULD BE REACHING CLAY AND GREENE COUNTIES IN NORTHEAST ARKANSAS...SO RESIDENTS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ALERT FOR SEVERE WEATHER AND CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE LATEST WEATHER IN FORMATION VIA NOAA WEATHER RADIO...TELEVISION AND COMMERCIAL RADIO SHOULD YOU EXPERIENCE SEVERE WEATHER...INFORM YOUR LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY AND REQUEST THAT THEY RELAY YOUR REPORT TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Memphis, TN issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 3, 8:16 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MEG | Craighead, Poinsett | 29 min |
| Apr 3, 8:42 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Poinsett | 33 min |
| Apr 3, 8:48 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MEG | Craighead | 27 min |
| Apr 3, 9:34 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MEG | Cross | 26 min |
| Apr 3, 9:37 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MEG | Poinsett | 38 min |
| Apr 3, 9:49 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MEG | Mississippi | 26 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Arkansas, 1989Every tornado warning in 1989Tornadoes 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.