Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Warnings in 1995

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Little Rock, AR

April 30, 1995Polk County, Arkansas

NWS Little Rock, AR issued this tornado warning at Apr 30, 1995, 5:04 PM CDT for Polk County, Arkansas. It was in force for 56 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Apr 30, 1995, 5:04 PM CDT (22:04 UTC)
Expired
Apr 30, 1995, 6:00 PM CDT
In force
56 min
Issued by
NWS Little Rock, AR
Area
Whole counties

County Polk County, AR

The nearest sounding before it

Springfield, MO (KUMN), launched 12:00Z, 10.1 hours before the alert went out and 271 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, Springfield, MO at 12:00Z on 1995-04-30Temperature 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, Springfield, MO at 12:00Z on 1995-04-30The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 44 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
619 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
44 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
129 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 302204
TORLIT
ARC113-302300-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
504 PM CDT SUN APR 30 1995
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LITTLE ROCK HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  600 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN WEST ARKANSAS
 
   ...POLK COUNTY
 
AT 500 PM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO LOCATED 22
MILES NORTHWEST OF MENA. THE STORM WAS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 40 MPH. MENA
IS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM. PEOPLE IN MENA SHOULD TAKE COVER.
 
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.
 
29/34

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, Apr 30, 4:08 PM CDT, 56 minutes before
ARZ003>009-012>018-020>028-030>075-010300-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
354 PM CDT SUN APR 30 1995

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1000 PM CDT FOR
CENTRAL AND WESTERN ARKANSAS. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE
IN ALL OF ARKANSAS TONIGHT INTO EARLY MONDAY AND HEAVY RAIN IS
POSSIBLE IN MUCH OF ARKANSAS LATER TONIGHT INTO MONDAY.

AT 400 PM CDT...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS HAD RAPIDLY DEVELOPED IN
EASTERN OKLAHOMA. THEY WERE MOVING TO THE EAST AT 40 MILES AN
HOUR. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE INTO WESTERN ARKANSAS BY
500 PM AND WILL MOVE THROUGH PARTS OF WESTERN AND CENTRAL ARKANSAS
DURING THE EVENING.

IN ADDITION...A STRONG LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL APPROACH ARKANSAS
LATER TONIGHT AND WILL MOVE THROUGH THE STATE ON MONDAY. STRONG
OR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS MAY MOVE INTO ARKANSAS LATER TONIGHT AND
CONTINUE INTO MONDAY DUE TO THIS. THE BEST THREAT OF SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE IN SOUTHERN ARKANSAS...WHERE THE AIR WILL BE
THE MOST UNSTABLE.

HEAVY RAINS MAY ALSO DEVELOP ACROSS ARKANSAS LATER TONIGHT. MOISTURE
WILL MOVE OVER A WARM FRONT AND COULD RESULT IN HEAVY RAINS...ESPECIALLY
IN CENTRAL AND NORTHERN SECTIONS.

PEOPLE ACROSS ARKANSAS SHOULD REVIEW THEIR SEVERE WEATHER SAFETY RULES
AND LISTEN FOR LATER BULLETINS FOR WARNINGS OR OTHER WATCHES. THE
SEVERE WEATHER THREAT MAY CONTINUE INTO MONDAY MORNING.

29

The office that day

Everything else NWS Little Rock, AR issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 30, 4:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKScott, Yell51 min
Apr 30, 5:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKPulaski51 min
Apr 30, 6:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKMontgomery32 min
Apr 30, 6:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKMonroe, Prairie54 min
Apr 30, 6:33 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKLonoke57 min
Apr 30, 6:33 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKSaline57 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Arkansas, 1995Every tornado warning in 1995Tornadoes in 1995

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.