Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 27, NWS Memphis, TN

June 5, 1989Crittenden County, Arkansas

NWS Memphis, TN issued this tornado warning at Jun 5, 1989, 11:42 AM CDT for Crittenden County, Arkansas. It was in force for 33 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jun 5, 1989, 11:42 AM CDT (16:42 UTC)
Expired
Jun 5, 1989, 12:15 PM CDT
In force
33 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 12:00Z, 4.7 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 1989-06-05Temperature 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 1989-06-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 35 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
3592 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
35 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
75 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 051645 RRA
TORMEM
ARC035-051715-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
1142 AM CDT MON JUN 5 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1215 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN EAST ARKANSAS
          ...EASTERN CRITTENDEN
 
AT 1136 AM LAW ENFOREMENT OFFICIALS IN CRITTENDEN REPORTED TORNADOES
IN THE WEST MEMPHIS AREA.
 
  IF  YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS6 TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.

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 5, 9:33 AM CDT, 2 hours 9 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUPELO MS
830 AM CDT MON JUN 5 1989

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 406 REMAINS IN EFFECAT FOR
LOWNDES AND OKTIBBEHA COUNTIES OF EAST MISSISSIPPI UNTIL 1PM CDT...

AT 825 AM CDT NO SEVERE WEATHER HAD BEEN REPORTED IN EAST MISSISSIPPI
BUT THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN CONTINUED ACROSS MUCH OF NORTHERN
MISSISSIPPI. A FLASH FLOOD WATCH ALSO REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR MUCH OF
NORTHERN MISSISSIPPI FOR TODAY.

AT 825 AM CDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF
THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING FROM NORTH CENTRAL ALABAMA THROUGH CENTRAL
MISSISSIPPI TO NORTHERN LOUISIANA. THIS LINE WAS MOVING EAST AT 45
MILES AN HOUR. ALSO A LARGE AREA OF RAIN AND THUNDERSHOWERS COVERED
ALL OF NORTHEAST MISSISSIPPI...SOUTHWEST TENNESSEE AND NORTHWEST
ALABAMA. THIS AREA WAS MOVING EAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR.

STAY TUNED TO THIS STATION FOR THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATIONu.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 4, 8:29 PM CDTTornado WarningMEGCrittenden61 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.