Alert archive / Arkansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1990

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 9, NWS Memphis, TN

March 14, 1990Lee County, Phillips County, Arkansas

NWS Memphis, TN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 14, 1990, 9:47 PM CST for Lee County, Phillips County, Arkansas. It was in force for 43 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Mar 14, 1990, 9:47 PM CST (03:47 UTC)
Expired
Mar 14, 1990, 10:30 PM CST
In force
43 min
Issued by
NWS Memphis, TN
Area
Whole counties

Counties Lee County, AR, Phillips 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 00:00Z, 3.8 hours before the alert went out and 83 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 00:00Z on 1990-03-15Temperature 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 00:00Z on 1990-03-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 238 square meters per square second.1939587897117136Sfc1 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
3556 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
69 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
238 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
375 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 150408 RRA
SVRMEM
ARC077-107-150430-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
947 PM CST WED MAR 14 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1030 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN EAST ARKANSAS
 
   ...LEE COUNTY...PHILLIPS COUNTY
 
AT 940 PM WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IN
SOUTHWESTERN PHILLIPS COUNTY. THIS STORM WAS MOVING TOWARD THE NORTH
NORTHEAST AT 50 MPH. WIND DAMAGE WAS REPORTED WITH THIS STORM IN
ARKANSAS COUNTY NEAR DEWITT.
 
A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THE WARNED AREA.  REMEMBER
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES
WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING.  REMAIN CALM BUT BE ALERT TO
RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS.
 
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 WATER 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, Mar 14, 5:37 PM CST, 4 hours 10 minutes before
TNZ012-013-014-015-ARZ012-013-014-MSZ001-004-150300-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE  MEMPHIS TN
530 PM CST WED MAR 14 1990

               SEVERE STORMS THREATEN MIDSOUTH

A TORNADO WATCH HAS BEEN POSTED FOR MUCH OF ARKANSAS UNTIL 1100 PM
CST THIS WEDNESDAY EVENING AND INCLUDES MANY MIDSOUTH COUNTIES OF
EASTERN ARKANSAS. THE POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND POSSIBLE
TORNADOES ALSO EXISTS OVER MUCH OF THE MIDSOUTH TONIGHT INCLUDING
WEST TENNESSEE AND NORTHWEST MISSISSIPPI.

AT LATE AFTERNOON STRONGEST STORMS WERE LOCATED OVER EXTREME NORTHWEST
LOUISIANA AND SOUTHWEST ARKANSAS. THESE STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP
NORTHEASTWARD DURING THE EVENING AS A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM OVER EASTERN
OKLAHOMA STRENGTHENS AND STRONG WINDS ALOFT APPROACH FROM THE SOUTHWEST.
THE STORMS WILL ALSO BE MOVING INTO AN AREA OF VERY WARM...MOIST...AND
UNSTABLE AIR...CONDITIONS WHICH ARE FAVORABLE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF
SEVERE WEATHER.

AT 530 PM CST RAIN IN CENTRAL ARKANSAS WAS JUST BEGINNING TO
SHOW ON THE MEMPHIS WEATHER RADAR. SIGNIFICANT THUNDERSTORM
DEVELOPMENT WILL NOT LIKELY AFFECT THE IMMEDIATE MIDSOUTH AREA
UNTIL LATER THIS EVENING...PERHAPS AFTER 800 OR 900 PM.

S]TAY TUNED TO THIS STATION FOR THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION.
Special weather statement, Mar 14, 7:35 PM CST, 2 hours 12 minutes before
TNZ012-013-014-015-ARZ012-013-014-MSZ001-004-150430-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE  MEMPHIS TN
730 PM CST WED MAR 14 1990

            SEVERE STORMS DRAWING CLOSER TO MIDSOUTH

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1100 PM THIS EVENING FOR MUCH
OF ARKANSAS INCLUDING MANY MIDSOUTH COUNTIES OF EASTERN ARKANSAS.

AT 730 PM STRONG THUNDERSTORMS HAD MOVED INTO SOUTH CENTRAL ARKANSAS
AND WERE MOVING TOWARD THE NORTHEAST AROUND 45 MPH. EXTREMELY STRONG
UPPER LEVEL WINDS...EXCEEDING 100 MPH...HAVE MOVED INTO NORTHEASTERN
TEXAS. THESE STRONG WINDS WILL AID THE DEVELOPMENT OF THUNDERSTORMS
THROUGH CENTRAL ARKANSAS DURING THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS.

THUNDERSTORMS WITH SEVERE POTENTIAL WILL NOT LIKELY DEVELOP IN THE
IMMEDIATE MIDSOUTH REGION UNTIL AFTER 900 OR 1000 PM. HOWEVER...GIVEN
THE STRONG POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE WEATHER DEVELOPMENT...THE WATCH AREA
MAY BE SHIFTED EASTWARD TO INCLUDE PARTS OF WEST TENNESSEE AND
NORTHWEST MISSISSIPPI LATER TONIGHT.

STAY TUNED TO THIS STATION FOR THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 14, 10:11 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGCross, St. Francis49 min
Mar 14, 10:35 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGCrittenden25 min
Mar 14, 10:53 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGCrittenden, Lee, Mississippi, St. Francis52 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.