Alert archive / Mississippi / Tornado Warnings in 1990

Tornado Warning 6, NWS Memphis, TN

May 19, 1990DeSoto County, Mississippi

NWS Memphis, TN issued this tornado warning at May 19, 1990, 6:08 PM CDT for DeSoto County, Mississippi. It was in force for 37 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 19, 1990, 6:08 PM CDT (23:08 UTC)
Expired
May 19, 1990, 6:45 PM CDT
In force
37 min
Issued by
NWS Memphis, TN
Area
Whole counties

County DeSoto County, MS

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 6 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 1990-05-19Temperature 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°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Little Rock, AR at 12:00Z on 1990-05-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 23 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
3610 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
23 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
232 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 192310
TORMEM
MSC033-192345-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
608 PM CDT SAT MAY 19 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  645 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN NORTHWEST MISSISSIPPI
 
   ...DESOTO COUNTY
 
A TORNADO WAS REPORTED ON THE GROUND NEAR ARKABUTLA LAKE AT 6 PM THIS
EVENING. THIS STORM WAS MOVING INTO DESOTO COUNTY TOWARD THE TOWN OF
HERNANDO.
 
 
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.

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, May 19, 2:50 PM CDT, 3 hours 18 minutes before
MSZ004-005-007-192045-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUPELO MS
250 PM CDT SAT MAY 19 1990

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 281 IN EFFECT FOR NORTH
MISSISSIPPI UNTIL 9 PM CDT...

AT 230 PM CDT WEATHER SERVICE RADAR DID NOT INDICATE ANY THUNDERSTORMS
OVER NORTH MISSISSIPPI AT THIS TIME...HOWEVER RADAR DID SHOW SCATTERED
CLUSTERS OF VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER SOUTHEAST ARKANSAS AND
NORTHEAST LOUISIANA. THE ACTIVITY EXTENDED FROM MONROE IN NORTHEAST
LOUISIANA TO  MONTICELLO IN SOUTHEAST ARKANSAS.

MOVEMENT WAS TO THE EAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR.

PEOPLE IN NORTH MISSISSIPPI NEED TO BE WEATHER ALERT AND TAKE MEASURES
TO PREPARE FOR THE THREATENING WEATHER THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

NNNN
Special weather statement, May 19, 2:55 PM CDT, 3 hours 13 minutes before
TNZ014-015-ARZ012-013-192030-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE  MEMPHIS TN
245 PM CDT SAT MAY 19 1990

 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO CRAIGHEAD COUNTY ARKANSAS...

AT 240 PM RADAR SHOWED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO WEST CRAIGHEAD
COUNTY ARKANSAS. THESE STORMS MAY HAVE DESTRUCTIVE WINDS...HAIL AND
HEAVY RAINFALL. ITS CURRENT MOVEMENT IS TO THE EAST AT 30 MILES AN
HOUR MEANING IT WILL BE IN THE  JONESBORO VICINITY BY 330 PM.

PERSONS LIVING IN AND AROUND THE JONESBORO AREA SHOULD BE ON THE ALERT
FOR DANGEROUS WEATHER AND TAKE IMMEDIATE SHELTER WHEN STORMS APPROACH.
THE STORMS MAY ALSO CAUSE STREET FLOODING DUE TO HEAVY RAINFALLS. DRIVERS
SHOULD THEREFORE BE ALERT FOR WATER COVERED ROADS.
Special weather statement, May 19, 4:21 PM CDT, 1 hour 47 minutes before
TNZ014-015-ARZ012-013-192200-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE  MEMPHIS TN
420 PM CDT SAT MAY 19 1990

 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS APPROACHING THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER AND THE
MEMPHIS TENNESSSEE AREA...

AT 415 PM THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL...STRONG WINDS AND HEAVY RAINS
WERE MOVING EAST AT 40 MILES AN HOUR INTO MISSISSIPPI COUNTY ARKANSAS.
AT THE CURRENT MOVEMENT THESE STORMS WILL MOVE ACROSS THE MISSISSIPPI
RIVER INTO WEST TENNESSEE INCLUDING THE MEMPHIS METROPOLITAN AREA
BY 5 PM THIS EVENING.

PERSONS IN NORTHEAST ARKANSAS AND WEST TENNESSEE SHOULD PREPARE FOR
DANGEROUS WEATHER AND SEEK APPROPRIATE SHELTER WHEN THUNDERSTORMS
APPROACH. SOME STORMS IN WEST TENNESSEE MAY BECOME} SEVERE AND PERSONS
MUST KEEP INFORMED OF THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 19, 3:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGLafayette68 min
May 19, 4:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGChickasaw, Monroe60 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Mississippi, 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.