Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Warnings in 1990

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Little Rock, AR

May 19, 1990Garland County, Arkansas

NWS Little Rock, AR issued this tornado warning at May 19, 1990, 7:15 PM CDT for Garland County, Arkansas. It was in force for 60 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
May 19, 1990, 7:15 PM CDT (00:15 UTC)
Expired
May 19, 1990, 8:15 PM CDT
In force
60 min
Issued by
NWS Little Rock, AR
Area
Whole counties

County Garland 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
May 19, 7:25 PM CDTHail 0.75Garland, AR
May 19, 8:05 PM CDTHail 0.75Garland, 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, 0.3 hours before the alert went out and 265 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 1990-05-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2736 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 1990-05-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 89 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
2736 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-14 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
712 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
89 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
151 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.1
Supercell composite
5.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLIT 200017
TORLIT
ARC051-200115-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
715 PM CDT SAT MAY 19 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LITTLE ROCK HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  815 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN CENTRAL ARKANSAS
 
   ...GARLAND COUNTY
 
AT 715 PM CDT...RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO 17 MILES WEST OF
HOT SPRINGS...ARKANSAS. THE STORM WAS MOVING EASTNORTHEAST AROUND 30
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.
 
06

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

Local storm report, May 19, 4:59 PM CDT, 2 hours 16 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
458 PM CDT SAT MAY 19 1990

THE PULASKI COUNTY SHERIFFS OFFICE REPORTS THAT A SMALL TORNADO
TOUCHED DOWN BRIEFLY ON SALES ROAD IN NORTHERN PULASKI COUNTY
AROUND 422 PM CDT THIS AFTERNOON. A MOBILE HOME WAS COMPLETELY
DESTROYED AND THERE WAS SOME TREE DAMAGE. SEVERAL WITNESSES
REPORTEDLY SAW THE TORNADO TOUCH DOWN BRIEFLY.

28

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 19, 8:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKGarland, Saline59 min
May 19, 8:22 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKCleburne, Van Buren68 min
May 19, 8:52 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningLZKGarland, Montgomery4 hr
May 19, 9:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKPulaski, Saline65 min
May 19, 9:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKGarland, Grant, Hot Spring65 min
May 19, 10:32 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningLZKGrant, Hot Spring4 hr
May 19, 10:40 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningLZKClark4 hr
May 19, 10:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKHot Spring67 min
May 20, 1:02 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningLZKGarland, Hot Spring, Montgomery3 hr
May 20, 1:02 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningLZKGrant3 hr
May 20, 1:02 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningLZKClark3 hr
May 20, 2:03 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKGrant, Saline57 min
May 20, 3:50 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningLZKClark, Hot Spring, Montgomery2 hr
May 20, 3:50 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningLZKGrant2 hr
May 20, 3:50 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningLZKGarland2 hr
May 20, 1:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKDrew65 min
May 20, 3:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKChicot42 min

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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.