Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Warnings in 1990

Tornado Warning 12, NWS Little Rock, AR

September 19, 1990Desha County, Arkansas

NWS Little Rock, AR issued this tornado warning at Sep 19, 1990, 4:45 PM CDT for Desha County, Arkansas. It was in force for 15 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Sep 19, 1990, 4:45 PM CDT (21:45 UTC)
Expired
Sep 19, 1990, 5:00 PM CDT
In force
15 min
Issued by
NWS Little Rock, AR
Area
Whole counties

County Desha 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, 9.8 hours before the alert went out and 163 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 1990-09-19Temperature 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 1990-09-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 63 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
3615 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
14 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
63 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
53 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 KLIT 192147
TORLIT
ARC041-192200-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
445 PM CDT WED SEP 19 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LITTLE ROCK HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  500 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTHEAST ARKANSAS
 
   ...DESHA COUNTY
 
AT 440 PM CDT...A TORNADO WAS REPORTED BY THE PUBLIC HITTING THE
WAL-MART STORE IN MC GEHEE ARKANSAS. RADAR INDICATES A STRONG
THUNDERSTORM IN THE MC GEHEE AREA MOVING TO THE EAST AT 15 MILES
AN HOUR. THIS STORM WILL MOVE OVER ARKANSAS CITY BY 500 PM CDT.
 
 
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.
 
29

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, Sep 19, 12:35 PM CDT, 4 hours 10 minutes before
ARZ008-191830-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
1235 PM CDT WED SEP 19 1990

AT 1225 PM CDT...RADAR INDICATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING FROM
NORTH GARLAND COUNTY EASTWARD ACROSS NORTH SALINE COUNTY INTO WEST
PULASKI COUNTY.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT ABOUT 20 MPH AND SHOULD BE
AFFECTING THE GREATER LITTLE ROCK AREA BETWEEN 1245 PM AND 200 PM CDT.

THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE PRODUCING HEAVY RAIN.(..DANGEROUS LIGHTNING
AND BRIEF GUSTY SURFACE WINDS AS THEY MOVE ACROSS CENTRAL ARKANSAS.

06
Special weather statement, Sep 19, 2:27 PM CDT, 2 hours 18 minutes before
OKZ020-013-ARZ001-004-007-192030-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT SMITH AR
227 PM CDT WED SEP 19 1990

...DEVELOPING THUNDERSTORMS INCREASING ACROSS NORTHWEST AND
SOUTHWEST ARKANSAS...

RADAR AT 225 PM CDT WAS SHOWING THUNDERSTORMS IN NORTHWEST CORNER
OF ARKANSAS IN BENTON COUNTY AND NORTHERN WASHINGTON COUNTY. ALSO
IN SOUTHWEST ARKANSAS IN POLK COUNTY.  THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORM
WAS IN SOUTH POLK COUNTY NEAR WICKES.

MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

PERSONS IN NORTHWEST AND SOUTHWEST ARKANSAS SHOULD BE ALERT OF
THESE THUNDERSTORMS AND EXPECT HEAVY DOWNPOURS OF RAIN...BRIEF
GUSTY WIND TO 40 MPH...AND DEADLY LIGHTNING.

THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO DEVTELOPING ACROSS THE AREA THIS
AFTERNOON AND PERSONS SHOULD LISTEN TO RADIO OR TV FOR LATER
STATEMENTS.

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Arkansas, 1990Every tornado warning in 1990Tornadoes 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.