Alert archive / Arkansas / Flash Flood Warnings in 1990

Flash Flood Warning 30, NWS Tulsa, OK

May 21, 1990Polk County, Arkansas

NWS Tulsa, OK issued this flash flood warning at May 21, 1990, 1:10 AM CDT for Polk County, Arkansas. It was in force for 103 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: May 21, 1990, 1:10 AM CDT (06:10 UTC)
Expired: May 21, 1990, 2:53 AM CDT
In force: 103 min
Issued by: NWS Tulsa, OK
Area: Whole counties

County Polk 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

Longview/Gregg, TX (KGGG), launched 00:00Z, 6.2 hours before the alert went out and 240 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 2312 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -235 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1408 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 46 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 151 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 201 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 3.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KFSM 210611
FFWFSM
ARC113-210915-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT SMITH AR
110 AM CDT MON MAY 21 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN FORT SMITH HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  415 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTHWEST ARKANSAS
 
   ...POLK COUNTY
 
STRONG THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE TO MOVE OVER POLK COUNTY. LOCALLY HEAVY
RAINFALL IS LIKELY. LOW SPOTS IN ROADS AND SMALL STREAMS WILL LIKELY
FLOOD. PEOPLE IN LOW LYING AREAS SHOULD BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS.
 
 
BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE
THE DANGERS OF FLOODS AND FLASH FLOODS.  IF FLASH FLOODING IS
OBSERVED...ACT QUICKLY.  MOVE UP TO ESCAPE FLOOD WATERS.  DO
NOT STAY IN AREAS SUBJECT TO FLOODING WHEN WATER BEGINS RISING.
 
A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS OCCURRING OR IS
IMMINENT.  MOST FLASH FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES.  DO NOT
ATTEMPT TO CROSS BRIDGEvS...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.

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

Local storm report, May 20, 10:14 PM CDT, 2 hours 56 minutes before

STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA, OK
1011 PM CDT SUN MAY 20 1990

TIME/CDT     COUNTY      EVENT

9 35 PM      OTTAWA      DIME TO NICKEL SIZE HAIL AT QUAPAW.
9 50 PM      OTTAWA      QUARTER SqIZE HAIL AT TURNPIKE TOLL BOOTH
                         ON OKLAHOMA-MISSOURI LINE. REPORTED THE HAIL
                         FALLING IN BOTH STATES.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Tulsa, OK issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 21, 12:39 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Polk, Scott	66 min
May 21, 1:42 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Polk	63 min
May 21, 2:16 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Benton	59 min
May 21, 2:32 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Washington	58 min
May 21, 3:13 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Crawford, Madison	62 min
May 21, 3:37 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Washington	38 min
May 21, 3:56 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Franklin, Johnson, Sebastian	64 min
May 21, 4:15 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Crawford	30 min
May 21, 4:50 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Logan, Scott	55 min
May 21, 4:58 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Sebastian	47 min
May 21, 5:44 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Scott	46 min
May 21, 5:59 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Polk	61 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Arkansas, 1990 Every 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.