Alert archive / Arkansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1990

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 80, NWS Memphis, TN

October 3, 1990Crittenden County, Arkansas; Shelby County, Tennessee

NWS Memphis, TN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Oct 3, 1990, 6:07 PM CDT for Crittenden County, Arkansas; Shelby County, Tennessee. It was in force for 68 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Oct 3, 1990, 6:07 PM CDT (23:07 UTC)
Expired
Oct 3, 1990, 7:15 PM CDT
In force
68 min
Issued by
NWS Memphis, TN
Area
Whole counties

Counties Crittenden County, AR, Shelby County, TN

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, 11.1 hours before the alert went out and 43 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 1990-10-03Temperature 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 1990-10-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 160 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
38 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
160 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
189 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 032307
SVRMEM
ARC035-TNC157-040015-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
607 PM CDT WED OCT 3 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  715 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN EAST ARKANSAS
 
   ...EASTERN CRITTENDEN COUNTY
 
 
IN WEST TENNESSEE
 
   ...SHELBY COUNTY
 
AT 600 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER SOUTHERN
CRITTENDEN COUNTY IN EASTERN ARKANSAS.
 
MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH.
 
DURING THE NEXT HOUR THE STORM WILL MOVE INTO EASTERN CRITTENDEN
COUNTY AND ACRSS SHELBY COUNTY.
 
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS.  HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO
DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATE0R COVERS THE ROAD.

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, Oct 3, 5:55 PM CDT, 12 minutes before
TNZ012013-014-015-ARZ012-013-014-MSZ001-004-005-040200-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE  MEMPHIS TN
555 PM CDT WED OCT  3 1990

         ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS INCREASING OVER THE MID SOUTH...

SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEVELOPED OVER EASTERN ARKANSAS AND
NORTHERN MISSISSIPPI. THESE STORMS ARE MOVING NORTHEASTWARD INTO WEST
TENNESSEE AT 45 MPH.

A COLD FRONT ACROSS THE PLAINS STATES IS MOVING SOUTHEASTWARD AND
WARM HUMID AIR IS BEING BROUGHT INTO THE MID SOUTH FROM THE GULF OF
MEXICO BY GUSTY SOUTHERLY WINDS. CONDITIONS ARE THEREFORE BECOMING
INCREASINGLY FAVORABLE FOR THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP AND BECOME MORE
NUMEROUS OVER THE MID SOUTH TONIGHT AS THE COLD FRONT APPROACHES.

THUNDERSTORMS MAY PRODUCE LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND
SMALL HAIL.

RESIDENTS OF THE MID SOUTH ARE URGED TO KEEP INFORMED OF THIS WEATHER
SITUATION AND BE PREPARED TO TAKE PROTECTIVE ACTION IF THREATENING
WEATHER APPROACH+ES.

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Arkansas, 1990Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Tennessee, 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.