Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 22, NWS Memphis, TN

June 4, 1989Crittenden County, Arkansas

NWS Memphis, TN issued this tornado warning at Jun 4, 1989, 6:32 PM CDT for Crittenden County, Arkansas. It was in force for 28 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
Jun 4, 1989, 6:32 PM CDT (23:32 UTC)
Expired
Jun 4, 1989, 7:00 PM CDT
In force
28 min
Issued by
NWS Memphis, TN
Area
Whole counties

County Crittenden 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jun 4, 6:45 PM CDTTornado F0Crittenden, 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 12:00Z, 11.5 hours before the alert went out and 53 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 12:00Z on 1989-06-04Temperature 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 km15 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 12:00Z on 1989-06-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 28 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
3611 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
28 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
27 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 042332
TORMEM
ARC035-050000-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
632 PM CDT SUN JUN 4 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  700 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN EAST ARKANSAS
          ...NORTHERN CRITTENDEN
 
A TORNADO WAS REPORTED BY THE EARLE POLICE DEPARTMENT IN WESTERN
CRITTENDEN COUNTY ARKANSAS AT 628PM CDT THIS EVENING. SEVERAL
MOTORISTS ALSO REPORT SEEING THE TORNADO.
 
RESIDENTS IN THE EARLE ARKANSAS VICINITY SHOULD TAKE COVER  N O W !!
 
DO NOT USE YOUR CAR TO TRY TO OUTRUN A TORNADO.  CARS ARE EASILY
TOSSED AROUND BY TORNADO WINDS.  IF YOU ARE CAUGHT IN TgHE PATH OF
A TORNADO...LEAVE THE CAR AND GO TO A STRONG BUILDING.  IF NO
STRUCTURE IS NEARBY...SEEK SHELTER IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT.

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, Jun 4, 5:09 PM CDT, 1 hour 23 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE  MEMPHIS TN
500 PM CDT  SUN JUN 4 1989

       ...THUNDERSTORMS PUSHING INTO NORTHEASTERN ARKANSAS...

THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN...STRONG GUSTY WINDS...AND POSSIBLE
SMALL HAIL ARE MOVING INTO NORTHEAST ARKANSAS. DANGEROUS LIGHTNING
CAN ALSO BE EXPECTED WITH THESE THUNDERSTORMS.

CONDITIONS FAVOR THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS AND
PEOPLE SHOULD BE ALERT FOR CHANGING WEATHER AND BE PREPARED TO SEEK
SHELTER IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES OR A WARNING IS ISSUED.

THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS ARE JUST NORTH OF COTTON PLANT ARKANSAS
AND ARE MOVING NORTHEASTWARD AT 45 MPH. THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE
INTO CROSS AND POINSETT COUNTIES IN THE NEXT HOUR.

STAY TUNED TO THIS STATION FOR FURTHER WEATHER UPDATES.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Memphis, TN issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 4, 5:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGCrittenden, Cross63 min
Jun 4, 6:57 PM CDTTornado WarningMEGCrittenden48 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.