Alert archive / Arkansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1990
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 69, NWS Little Rock, AR
NWS Little Rock, AR issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 21, 1990, 2:44 AM CDT for Pulaski County, Arkansas. It was in force for 61 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
- May 21, 1990, 2:44 AM CDT (07:44 UTC)
- Expired
- May 21, 1990, 3:45 AM CDT
- In force
- 61 min
- Issued by
- NWS Little Rock, AR
- Area
- Whole counties
County Pulaski 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 21, 3:20 AM CDT | Hail 0.75 | Pulaski, 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 00:00Z, 7.7 hours before the alert went out and 216 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 3596 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 37 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 20 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 81 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
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 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, May 20, 10:38 PM CDT, 4 hours 6 minutes before
OKZ020-013-ARZ004-007-210445- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT SMITH AR 1037 PM CDT SUN MAY 20 1990 ...THUNDERSTORMS HAVE RAPIDLY DEVELOPED OVER EAST CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA... AT 1030 PM WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A BROKEN LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS FROM 5 MILES NORTH OF TALIHINA OKLAHOMA TO NORTHWEST PUSHMATAHA COUNTY OKLAHOMA. THESE STORMS ARE MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH. THE STRONGEST STORM WAS 5 SOUTHEAST OF CLAYTON OKLAHOMA. THE STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS WILL PRODUCE BRIEF HEAVY RAIN...SMALL HAIL AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING. PEOPLE IN EAST OKLAHOMA AND WEST ARKANSAS SHOULD STAY ABREAST OF THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.
Special weather statement, May 20, 11:12 PM CDT, 3 hours 32 minutes before
ARZ001>011-015-210600- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 1112 PM CDT SUN MAY 20 1990 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR MOST OF CENTRAL AND WESTERN ARKANSAS... A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR MUCH OF CENTRAL AND WESTERN ARKANSAS. THIS WATCH COVERS 47 COUNTIES AND WILL BE IN EFFECT UNTIL 400 AM MONDAY MORNING. SINCE 1000 PM...THUNDERSTORMS HAVE BEGUN TO DEVELOP RAPIDLY FROM CENTRAL PORTIONS OF ARKANSAS THROUGH THE WESTERN PART OF THE STATE INTO EASTERN OKLAHOMA. THE AIR OVER ARKANSAS IS VERY MOIST AND UNSTABLE. AN AREA OF LOW PRESSURE ALOFT IS APPROACHING FROM THE WEST AND HAS HELPED THE THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP QUICKLY. THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO BECOME MORE NUMEROUS AND INCREASE IN INTENSITY THE NEXT COUPLE OF HOURS. 28
Special weather statement, May 21, 12:10 AM CDT, 2 hours 34 minutes before
ARZ001>011-015-210700- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 1209 AM CDT MON MAY 21 1990 ...THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE TO DEVELOP IN ARKANSAS... A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 400 AM CDT FOR MOST OF CENTRAL AND WESTERN ARKANSAS. AT MIDNIGHT...THUNDERSTORMS WERE OCCURRING OVER SEVERAL PARTS OF THE STATE. MOST OF THESE STORMS DEVELOPED DURING THE PAST COUPLE OF HOURS. A LARGE AREA OF THUNDERSTORMS WAS LOCATED ALONG THE ARKANSAS-MISSOURI BORDER FROM NEAR GRAVETTE EASTWARD TO BULL SHOALS LAKE. THE STRONGEST STORM IN ARKANSAS WAS NEAR OMAHA...BUT STRONGER STORMS WERE JUST NORTH OF THE BORDER IN MISSOURI. IN NORTHEAST ARKANSAS...THUNDERSTORMS HAD DEVELOPED RAPIDLY FROM MAMMOTH SPRING TO WALNUT RIDGE. IN THE CENTRAL PART OF THE STATE...THUNDERSTORMS WERE OCCURRING FROM LITTLE ROCK TO 10 MILES NORTH OF PINE BLUFF...AND FROM BENTON ACROSS THE LITTLE ROCK AREA TO BEEBE. SCATTERED THUNDERSTOARMS WERE ALSO OCCURRING FROM TEXARKANA TO 15 MILES SOUTH OF SHERIDAN. FINALLY...THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING FROM EASTERN OKLAHOMA INTO SCOTT AND POLK COUNTIES IN WESTERN ARKANSAS. 28
The office that day
Everything else NWS Little Rock, AR issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 21, 12:32 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Randolph | 43 min |
| May 21, 1:11 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Montgomery | 59 min |
| May 21, 1:24 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | LZK | Montgomery | 66 min |
| May 21, 2:22 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Garland, Hot Spring | 38 min |
| May 21, 2:29 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Saline | 61 min |
| May 21, 2:52 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Grant | 53 min |
| May 21, 3:52 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Newton | 38 min |
| May 21, 5:27 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Pulaski | 63 min |
| May 21, 5:37 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Lonoke | 68 min |
| May 21, 6:18 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Jefferson | 42 min |
| May 21, 6:21 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Arkansas | 69 min |
| May 21, 6:32 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Cleveland, Lincoln | 58 min |
| May 21, 7:03 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Desha, Drew | 42 min |
| May 21, 8:50 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Union | 40 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Arkansas, 1990Every severe thunderstorm 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.