Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Warnings in 1992

Tornado Warning 9, NWS Little Rock, AR

August 26, 1992Union County, Arkansas

NWS Little Rock, AR issued this tornado warning at Aug 26, 1992, 3:36 PM CDT for Union County, Arkansas. It was in force for 38 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 26, 1992, 3:36 PM CDT (20:36 UTC)
Expired
Aug 26, 1992, 4:14 PM CDT
In force
38 min
Issued by
NWS Little Rock, AR
Area
Whole counties

County Union County, AR

The nearest sounding before it

Longview/Gregg, TX (KGGG), launched 12:00Z, 8.6 hours before the alert went out and 208 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, Longview/Gregg, TX at 12:00Z on 1992-08-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 547 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Longview/Gregg, TX at 12:00Z on 1992-08-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -49 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
547 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-78 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
913 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
5 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-49 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-44 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 KLIT 262036
TORLIT
ARC139-262130-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
336 PM CDT WED AUG 26 1992
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LITTLE ROCK HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  430 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTHWEST ARKANSAS
 
   ...UNION COUNTY
 
AT 330 PM CDT...RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO 8 MILES SOUTH
OF HUTTIG MOVING TO THE NORTHWEST AT 20 MILES AN HOUR. THIS STORM
WILL MAINLY AFFECT EASTERN UNION COUNTY.
 
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.
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING.  AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH
OR LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.
 
29

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, Aug 26, 11:17 AM CDT, 4 hours 19 minutes before
ARZALL-261900-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
1120 AM CDT WED AUG 26 1992

HURRICANE ANDREW IS EXPECTED TO MOVE SLOWLY NORTH THEN NORTHEAST THIS
AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.

LATE THIS MORNING...HURRICANE ANDREW WAS LOCATED JUST WEST OF BATON
ROUGE LOUISIANA MOVING SLOWLY TO THE NORTH. THE STORM HAD WEAKENED TO
A MINIMAL HURRICANE AND SHOULD WEAKEN RAPIDLY LATER TODAY AND TONIGHT
AS IT MOVES SLOWLY TO THE NORTH THEN NORTHEAST.

THE CENTER OF ANDREW IS NOW FORECAST TO STAY JUST TO THE EAST OF
ARKANSAS AS IT MOVES TO THE NORTH. THE CENTER OF ANDREW IS EXPECTED
TO BE IN WESTERN MISSISSIPPI JUST TO THE EAST OF CHICOT COUNTY
ARKANSAS AT SUNRISE THURSDAY AND INTO NORTHEASTERN MISSISSIPPI BY LATE
THURSDAY...MOVING AWAY FROM ARKANSAS.

A COLD FRONT NEAR THE NORTHWESTERN BORDER OF ARKANSAS THIS MORNING WILL
GET CAUGHT UP IN THE CIRCULATION AROUND ANDREW AND COOLER AIR WILL BE
SWEPT INTO ARKANSAS BY THURSDAY.

IT NOW APPEARS THAT THE MOST SEVERE WEATHER AND GENERAL HEAVY RAINS
WILL BE TO THE SOUTH AND EAST OF ARKANSAS. MOST OF ARKANSAS WILL GET
SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH THURSDAY.
THE HIGHEST THREAT OF RAIN AND THE HEAVIEST RAINS WILL BE IN THE
EXTREME SOUTHEASTERN PART OF ARKANSAS.

GENERAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS ACROSS ARKANSAS SHOULD BE LESS THAN ONE INCH...
BUT A FEW THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTAIN HEAVIER RAINS. ISOLATED AREAS
COULD GET OVER TWO INCHES OF RAIN. HEAVIER RAINFALL AMOUNTS ARE
POSSIBLE IN THE EXTREME SOUTHEAST. GENERAL RAINFALL IS EXPECTED TO BE
TWO INCHES OR LESS IN THE EXTREME SOUTHEAST...WITH ISOLATED HEAVIER
AMOUNTS.

WINDS AROUND ANDREW SHOULD DECREASE DRAMATICALLY AS THE STORM MOVES
INLAND. IT APPEARS THAT WINDS ACROSS ARKANSAS WILL GENERALLY BE IN THE
10 TO 20 MPH RANGE...WITH HIGHER WINDS IN THE SOUTHEAST. OCCASIONAL
GUSTS OF 30 TO 35 MPH COULD BE POSSIBLE IN THE EXTREME SOUTHEAST LATER
THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.

A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR NORTHEASTERN LOUISIANA AND
SOUTHWESTERN MISSISSIPPI. THE MAIN THREAT OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND
TORNADOES WILL REMAIN IN THOSE AREAS. HOWEVER...THE THREAT OF SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS OR EVEN TORNADOES CANNOT BE RULED OUT FOR THE EXTREME
SOUTHEASTERN COUNTIES OF ARKANSAS THIS AFTERNOON INTO TONIGHT.

PEOPLE IN EXTREME SOUTHEASTERN ARKANSAS SHOULD BE ON THE ALERT FOR
THREATENING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND PREPARE TO MOVE TO SAFETY IF
DARK CLOUDS APPROACH FROM THE SOUTHEAST OR A WARNING. IS ISSUED.

29
Special weather statement, Aug 26, 3:00 PM CDT, 36 minutes before
OKZ032-034-ARZ001-004-007-262100-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT SMITH AR
300 PM CDT WED AUG 26 1992

...THUNDERSTORMS INCREASING ACROSS NORTHWEST ARKANSAS AND EAST CENTRAL
OKLAHOMA...

RADAR AT 300 PM CDT WAS SHOWING SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
ACROSS NORTHWEST ARKANSAS AND EAST CENTRAL OKLAHOMA.  THESE SHOWERS
AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE INCREASING IN COVERAGE IN ADVANCE OF A COLD
FRONT EXTENDING FROM SOUTHWEST MISSOURI NEAR SPRINGFIELD...SOUTHWEST
ACROSS EXTREME NORTHWEST CORNER OF ARKANSAS INTO OKLAHOMA.

MOVEMENT OF THE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WAS NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

SOME OF THE STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED NEAR MCCURTAIN
OKLAHOMA...15 MILES SOUTHWEST OF WALDRON ARKANSAS AND NEAR ELKINS
IN WASHINGTON COUNTY.

THE STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS WILL PRODUCE HEAVY DOWNPOURS OF RAIN...
BRIEF GUSTY WINDS...DEADLY LIGHTNING AND SMALL HAIL.

-03-

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Arkansas, 1992Every tornado warning in 1992Tornadoes in 1992

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.