Alert archive / Arkansas / Flash Flood Warnings in 1990

Flash Flood Warning 17, NWS Little Rock, AR

May 16, 1990Union County, Arkansas

NWS Little Rock, AR issued this flash flood warning at May 16, 1990, 9:59 PM CDT for Union County, Arkansas. It was in force for 3 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 16, 1990, 9:59 PM CDT (02:59 UTC)
Expired
May 17, 1990, 12:45 AM CDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Little Rock, AR
Area
Whole counties

County Union 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, 3.0 hours before the alert went out and 208 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 1990-05-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2570 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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 1990-05-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 169 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
2570 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-8 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1057 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
48 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
169 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
303 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
4.1
Supercell composite
18.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this flash flood 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, May 16, 4:06 PM CDT, 5 hours 53 minutes before
ARZALL-162300-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
405 PM CDT WED MAY 16 1990

...TORNADO WATCH CONTINUES FOR NORTHWEST ARKANSAS UNTIL 8 PM...
...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH UNTIL 10 PM FOR WEST AND CENTRAL ARKANSAS...

STRONG AND POTENTIALLY SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE TO MOVE INTO AND
TOWARD ARKANSAS. A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WAS LOCATED ACROSS SOUTHWEST
MISSOURI...EXTREME NORTHWEST ARKANSAS AND NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA MOVING TO THE
EAST AROUND 35 MILES AN HOUR.

A CLUSTER OF THUNDERSTORMS OVER NORTHEAST TEXAS WAS MOVING INTO SOUTHWEST
ARKANSAS. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE OCCURRED IN THIS CLUSTER.

AS THE NIGHT GOES ON...STRONG AND POTENTIALLY SEVERE THUNDERSTORMSV MAY
AFFECT THE ENTIRE STATE. ARKANSANS SHOULD LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO
OR LOCAL RADIO OR TELEVISION STATIONS FOR THE LATEST STATEMENTS AND
POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

25
Special weather statement, May 16, 4:49 PM CDT, 5 hours 10 minutes before
ARZALL-162245-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
448 PM CDT WED MAY 16 1990

...TORNADO WATCH CONTINUES FOR NORTHWEST ARKANSAS TIL 8 PM...
...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH CONTINUES FOR WEST AND CENTRAL ARKANSAS
TIL 10 PM...

A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED TO MOVE SLOWLY TO THE SOUTHEAST...
INTO THE EXTREME NORTHWEST CORNER OF ARKANSAS. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
WERE INDICATED ALONG THE LINE...WITH SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNINGS
HAVING BEEN ISSUED BY THE WEATHER SERVICE OFFICES IN SPRINGFIELD
MISSOURI...TULSA OKLAHOMA AND FORT SMITH ARKANSAS.

A CLUSTER OF THUNDERSTORMS OVER SOUTHWEST ARKANSAS WAS PRODUCING
SEVERE WEATHER. SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNINGS HAVE BEEN ISSUED BY THE
WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN SHREVEPORT. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING
TO THE EAST NORTHEAST AROUND 35 MILES AN HOUR.

THE POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE WEATHER CONTINUES TO BE HIGH OVER ARKANSAS
TONIGHT. WITH THE APPROACH OF THE LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE WEST
AND NORTHWEST SECTIONS...AND THE CLUSTER OVER THE SOUTHWEST
PORTION...ARKANSANS SHOULD TAKE COVER IF THREATENING WEATHER IS
SIGHTED.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION.

25
Special weather statement, May 16, 5:45 PM CDT, 4 hours 14 minutes before
ARZALL-162345-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
545 PM CDT WED MAY 16 1990

...TORNADO WATCH CONTINUES FOR NORTHWEST ARKANSAS TIL 8 PM...
...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH CONTINUES FOR WEST AND CENTRAL ARKANSAS
TIL 10 PM...

A LINE OF STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WAS LYING ACROSS THE
NORTHWEST CORNER OF ARKANSAS. THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TO THE
NORTHEAST AROUND 35 MILES AN HOUR...WHILE THE LINE WAS TRANSLATING TO
THE SOUTHEAST AROUND 15 MILES AN HOUR. SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNINGS
CONTINUE IN EFFECT FOR COUNTIES ACROSS NORTHWEST ARKANSAS.

A LARGE...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED ACROSS SOUTHWEST
ARKANSAS...NEAR MAGNOLIA. THE SHREVEPORT WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE HAS
ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING ON THIS VERY DANGEROUS STORM...WHICH WAS
MOVING TO THE EAST AROUND 35 MILES AN HOUR. RESIDENTS OF UNION AND
OUACHITA COUNTIES SHOULD BE ON THE ALERT FOR THIS THUNDERSTORM WHICH
MAY CONTINUE EASTWARD INTO THESE COUNTIES.

VERY WARM...MOIST...UNSTABLE AIR CONTINUES OVER ALL OF ARKANSAS...WITH
SEVERE WEATHER POTENTIAL FOR THE ENTIRE STATE. ARKANSANS SHOULD STAY
TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION.

25
Special weather statement, May 16, 9:23 PM CDT, 36 minutes before
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Local storm report, May 16, 9:28 PM CDT, 31 minutes before
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<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
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The office that day

Everything else NWS Little Rock, AR issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 16, 7:27 PM CDTTornado WarningLZKUnion63 min
May 16, 8:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKSearcy, Van Buren69 min
May 16, 8:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKMontgomery58 min
May 16, 8:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKCleburne, Independence62 min
May 16, 9:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKAshley, Bradley, Union68 min
May 16, 9:48 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningLZKAshley3 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Arkansas, 1990Every flash flood warning in 1990

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.