Alert archive / Arkansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1989

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 7, NWS Tulsa, OK

March 17, 1989Crawford County, Sebastian County, Arkansas

NWS Tulsa, OK issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 17, 1989, 9:35 PM CST for Crawford County, Sebastian County, Arkansas. It was in force for 55 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
Mar 17, 1989, 9:35 PM CST (03:35 UTC)
Expired
Mar 17, 1989, 10:30 PM CST
In force
55 min
Issued by
NWS Tulsa, OK
Area
Whole counties

Counties Crawford County, AR, Sebastian 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
Mar 17, 9:39 PM CSTHail 1Crawford, AR
Mar 17, 9:45 PM CSTHail 0.75Sebastian, 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

Springfield, MO (KUMN), launched 00:00Z, 3.6 hours before the alert went out and 172 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, Springfield, MO at 00:00Z on 1989-03-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 646 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Springfield, MO at 00:00Z on 1989-03-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 126 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
646 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-28 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1679 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
126 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
164 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
6.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KFSM 180338
SVRFSM
ARC033-131-180430-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT SMITH AR
935 PM CST FRI MAR 17 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN FORT SMITH HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1030 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
 
IN WEST ARKANSAS
          ...CRAWFORD...NORTHERN SEBASTIAN
 
AT 9302 PM CST RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 5 MILES NORTH OF
FORT SMITH MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 30 MPH.
 
 
WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A
STRONG BUILDING.  DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS.  DON'T USE TELEPHONES
OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL THE STORM
HAS PASSED.  MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE INTO LOW WATER CROSSINGS.
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER FROM THE WEATHER IN A
STRONG BUILDING.  DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN...
AND DEADLY LIGHTNING ARE ALL POSSIBLE IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.L
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, Mar 17, 5:21 PM CST, 4 hours 14 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA, OK
520 PM CST FRI MAR 17 1989

...THREAT OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORM DECREASES ACROSS PARTS
OF NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA...

THE THREAT OF THUNDERSTORMS AND SEVERE WEATHER HAS DIMINISHED ACROSS
PARTS OF NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA INCLUDING THE TULSA METROPOLITAN AREA.
DRIER AND COOLER AIR BEHIND A COLD FRONT HAS PUSHED INTO NORTHEAST
OKLAHOMA. SHORTLY AFTER 500 PM THE COLD FRONT EXTENDED FROM NORTHERN
DELAWARE COUNTY TO TULSA TO JUST SOUTH OF NORMAN. THE FRONT MOVED
THROUGH THE TULSA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT AT 511 PM.

THUNDERSTORMS ARE STILL POSSIBLE ALONG AND AHEAD OF THE FRONT THIS
EVENING WITH A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. NORTHWEST OF
THE FRONT...WHERE WINDS ARE NORTHERLY AT SPEEDS OF 15-25 MPH...
THE CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS HAS DIMINISHED.
Local storm report, Mar 17, 7:21 PM CST, 2 hours 14 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA, OK
720 PM CST FRI MAR 17 1989

 TIME/CDT COUNTY      EVENT  (CD=CIVIL DEFENSE  OHP=OK HIGHWAY PAT'L)
 1745 PM  TULSA       HAIL THE SIZE OF QUARTERS FELL AT 129TH AND
                      PINE IN EAST TULSA.

 1755 PM  ROGERS       HAIL UP TO GOLFBALL SIZE FELL NEAR CATOOSA.

 1905 PM  WAGONER     GOLFBALL SIZE HAIL FELL 3 MILES WEST OF
                      SEQUOYAH STATE PARK.

 1910 XPM CHEROKEE     GOLFBALL TO BASEBALL SIZE HAIL FELL AT
                      SEQUOYAH STATE PARK.
Local storm report, Mar 17, 8:23 PM CST, 1 hour 12 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA, OK
819 PM CST FRI MAR 17 1989

 TIME/CDT COUNTY      EVENT  (CD=CIVIL DEFENSE  OHP=OK HIGHWAY PAT'L)
 1810 PM  WAGONER     HAIL THE SIZE OF DIMES FELL 3 MILES NORTH OF
                      COWETA.

 1934 PM  CHEROKEE    HAIL UP TO GOLFBALL SIZE FELL 10 MILES
                      SOUTHWEST OF TAHLEQUAH.

 1952 PM  CHEROKEE    DIME SIZE HAIL FELL 10 MILES SOUTH  OF
                      TAHLEQUAH.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Tulsa, OK issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 17, 8:43 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSACrawford62 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Arkansas, 1989Every severe thunderstorm warning 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.