Alert archive / Arkansas / Flash Flood Warnings in 1990

Flash Flood Warning 15, NWS Memphis, TN

December 21, 1990Greene County, Arkansas

NWS Memphis, TN issued this flash flood warning at Dec 21, 1990, 10:01 AM CST for Greene County, Arkansas. It was in force for 4 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Dec 21, 1990, 10:01 AM CST (16:01 UTC)
Expired
Dec 21, 1990, 2:00 PM CST
In force
4 hr
Issued by
NWS Memphis, TN
Area
Whole counties

County Greene 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

Paducah/Barkley, KY (KPAH), launched 12:00Z, 4.0 hours before the alert went out and 197 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, Paducah/Barkley, KY at 12:00Z on 1990-12-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 46 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Paducah/Barkley, KY at 12:00Z on 1990-12-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 166 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
46 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-32 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
559 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
64 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
166 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
176 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 KMEM 211610
FFWMEM
ARC055-212000-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
1001 AM CST FRI DEC 21 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  200 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN EAST ARKANSAS
 
   ...GREENE COUNTY
 
HEAVY RAINS IN THE PAST 24 HOURS HAVE CAUSED FLOODING ALONG EIGHTMILE
CREEK NEAR PARAGOULD ARKANSAS. MORE HEAVY RAIN IS POSSIBLE THROUGHOUT
THE DAY. ADDITIONAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS UP TO 3 TO 5 INCHES WILL LIKELY
WORSEN THIS PROBLEM. SOME EVACUATIONS HAVE ALREADY TAKEN PLACE JUST WE
OF PARAGOULD.
 
 
DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE
ROADWAY.  THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOUR CAR TO
CROSS SAFELY.  VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE
ABANDONED QUICKLY.  MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.
 
A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS OCCURRING OR IS
IMMINENT.  MOST FLASH FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES.  DO NOT
ATTEMPT TO CROSS BRIDGES...DIPS...OR LOW SPOTS IF WATER COVERS
THE ROADWAY.  NEVER TRY TO CROSS A FLOWING STREAM...EVEN A SMALL
ONE...ON FOOT.  TO ESCAPE RISING WATER MOVE UP TO HIGHER GROUND.
 
 
PLEASE STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR TV FOR ADDITIONAL UPDATES
ON THIS RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER SITUATION.

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, Dec 21, 8:42 AM CST, 1 hour 19 minutes before
RADAR SUMMARY AND SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
725 AM CST FRI DEC 21 1990

AT 725 AM WEATHER SERVICE RADARS INDICATED A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS
WITH HEAVY RAIN ACROSS WEST TENNESSEE FROM NEAR JACKSON TO MEMPHIS
TO EASTERN ARKANSAS AROUND WEST HELENA.

SMALL HAIL AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS IN ADDITION TO CLOUD TO GROUND
LIGHTNING WAS REPORTED IN THE PAST FEW MINUTES AROUND THE INTERNATIONAL
AIRPORT AT MEMPHIS.

THE LINE( WAS MOVING EAST WITH INDIVIDUAL STORMS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40
MILES AN HOUR.
Special weather statement, Dec 21, 8:43 AM CST, 1 hour 18 minutes before
RADAR SUMMARY AND SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
835 AM CST FRI DEC 21 1990

AT 835 AM WEATHER SERVICE RADARS INDICATED WIDELY SCATTERED PATCHES
OF LIGHT RAIN...AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS...OCCURRING IN SOUTHWEST
TENNESSEE NEAR COLLIERVILLE...AND SAVANNAH...IN NORTHWEST MISSISSIPPI
NEAR HERNANDO...AND...IN NORTHEAST MISSISSIPPI BETWEEN ABERDEEN AND
BLUE MOUNTAIN.

A FEW ADDITIONAL PATCHES OF LIGHT RAIN WERE LOCATED ,IN NORTHWEST
ALABAMA NEAR HACKLEBURG...AND FLORENCE.

MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AT 40 MILES AN HOUR.
Special weather statement, Dec 21, 8:46 AM CST, 1 hour 15 minutes before
RADAR SUMMARY AND SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...CORRECTION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
835 AM CST FRI DEC 21 1990

AT 835 AM WEATHER SERVICE RADARS INDICATED A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS
WITH HEAVY RAIN ACROSS WEST TENNESSEE FROM NEAR JACKSON TO MEMPHIS
TO EASTERN ARKANSAS AROUND WEST HELENA.

SMALL HAIL AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS IN ADDITION TO CLOUD TO GROUND
LIGHTNING WAS REPORTED IN THE PAST FEW MINUTES AROUND THE INTERNATIONAL
AIRPORT AT MEM5PHIS.

THE LINE WAS MOVING EAST WITH INDIVIDUAL STORMS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40
MILES AN HOUR.
Special weather statement, Dec 21, 9:44 AM CST, 17 minutes before
TNZ012-013-014-015-MSZ001-004-ARZ012-013-014-211645-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
943 AM CST FRI DEC 21 1990

...FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT FOR WEST
TENNESSEE...

AT 925AM ADJACENT WEATHER SERVICE RADARS SHOWED AN AREA OF SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS...SOME CONTAINING VERY HEAVY RAIN...ACROSS WEST TENNESSE
NORTHEAST ARKANSAS AND NORTHWEST MISSISSIPPI. THE HEAVIEST RAIN
APPEARED TO BE LOCATED ALONG A LINE FROM EXTREME NORTHWEST TENNESSEE
THROUGH THE MEMPHIS AREA AND ALONG THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.

HEAVY RAIN...STRONG GUSTY WINDS ADN DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE
WITH THESE STORMS.

THE STORMS ARE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 55 MILES AN HOUR WHILE THE
ENTIRE AREA IS PUSHING EAST AT 15 MILES AN HOUR.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Memphis, TN issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Dec 21, 2:30 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningMEGGreene4 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.