Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 8, NWS Tulsa, OK

May 18, 1989Polk County, Arkansas

NWS Tulsa, OK issued this tornado warning at May 18, 1989, 7:23 PM CDT for Polk County, Arkansas. It was in force for 52 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 18, 1989, 7:23 PM CDT (00:23 UTC)
Expired
May 18, 1989, 8:15 PM CDT
In force
52 min
Issued by
NWS Tulsa, OK
Area
Whole counties

County Polk 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

Longview/Gregg, TX (KGGG), launched 00:00Z, 0.4 hours before the alert went out and 240 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, Longview/Gregg, TX at 00:00Z on 1989-05-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 280 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, Longview/Gregg, TX at 00:00Z on 1989-05-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 131 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
280 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-174 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1227 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
51 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
131 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
158 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KFSM 190023
TORFSM
ARC113-190115-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT SMITH AR
723 PM CDT THU MAY 18 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN FORT SMITH HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  815 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN WEST ARKANSAS
          ...POLK
 
RADAR AT 722 PM SHOWED A POSSIBLE TORNADO 10 MILES WEST OF WICKS...
MOVEMENT EAST NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH.
 
 
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 CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.
 
DO NOT USE YOUR CAR TO TRY TO OUTRUN A TORNADO.  CARS ARE EASILY
TOSSED AROUND BY TORNADO WINDS.  IF YOU ARE CAUGHT IN THE PATH OF
A TORNADO...LEAVE THE CAR AND GO TO A STRONG BUILDING.  IF NO
STRUCTURE IS NE%ARBY...SEEK SHELTER IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 18, 7:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAFranklin, Johnson, Logan61 min
May 18, 8:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAPolk44 min
May 18, 8:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAJohnson60 min
May 18, 10:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSASebastian62 min
May 18, 10:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSACrawford62 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.