Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Warnings in 1995

Tornado Warning 16, NWS Tulsa, OK

May 13, 1995Benton County, Arkansas

NWS Tulsa, OK issued this tornado warning at May 13, 1995, 8:59 PM CDT for Benton County, Arkansas. It was in force for 46 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 13, 1995, 8:59 PM CDT (01:59 UTC)
Expired
May 13, 1995, 9:45 PM CDT
In force
46 min
Issued by
NWS Tulsa, OK
Area
Whole counties

County Benton County, AR

The nearest sounding before it

Springfield, MO (KUMN), launched 00:00Z, 2.0 hours before the alert went out and 74 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 00:00Z on 1995-05-14Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2575 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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, Springfield, MO at 00:00Z on 1995-05-14The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 42 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
2575 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-3 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1417 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
54 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
42 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
189 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.6
Supercell composite
4.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KTUL 140200
TORTUL
ARC007-140245-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
859 PM CDT SAT MAY 13 1995
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TULSA HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  945 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTHWEST ARKANSAS
 
   ...BENTON COUNTY
 
AT 855 PM RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO NEAR LOWELL. THIS IS A NEW
TORNADIC CIRCULATION. THE ORIGINAL TORNADIC CIRCULATION NORTHEAST OF
ROGERS HAS WEAKENED.
 
A LARGE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CONTINUES TO COVER MUCH OF BENTON COUNTY.
HAIL TO GOLFBALL SIZE OR LARGER REMAINS LIKELY AND ADDITIONAL TORNADIC
CIRCULATIONS MAY DEVELOP WITHIN THIS STORM. THE STORM IS MOVING EAST AT
15 TO 20 MILES AN HOUR.
 
PERSONS IN BENTON COUNTY SHOULD REMAIN IN THEIR STORM SHELTERS.
 
 
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION.  ACT QUICKLY.  IF YOU ARE IN THE
PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF AVAILABLE.
OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR POSSIBLE.
STAY AWAY FROM OUTSIDE WALLS AND AVOID WINDOWS.  ABANDON CARS AND
MOBILE HOMES FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET IN A GROUND DEPRESSION.
 
KEEP TUNED TO THIS STATION FOR THE LATEST WEATHER BULLETINS.

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.

NWS Tulsa, OK wrote its last area forecast discussion before this tornado warning went out at May 13, 3:25 PM CDT, 5 hours 34 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 13, 3:25 PM CDT, 5 hours 34 minutes before
EASTERN OKLAHOMA/NORTHWEST ARKANSAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
300 PM CDT SAT MAY 13 1995

LN OF CU DVLPNG ALONG DRYLN MAY POP INTO A TRW OR TWO BEFORE
SUNSET. MESONET OBS SHOW MOIST CONVERGENCE STILL AROUND 2.5 G/KG/HR
JUST SOUTHWEST OF PITTSBURG COUNTY. WILL KEEP MENTION OF ISOLATED
TRW PSBL UNTIL SUNSET IN ERN ZNS.

DRY AIR HAS MADE BEST ADVANCES IN NE OK WITH MESONET STNS IN AREAS
NW OF TUL SHOWING DWPTS IN UPPER 40S TO LOWER 50S. LUKS LIKE THIS
AIR WILL CONT TO MOVE E WITH MUCH LESS DRYING IN SE OK. WEST WINDS
SHUD DIMINISH THIS EVE AND MODELS BACK WINDS OVERNIGHT AHEAD OF
COOL FRNT THAT WILL APPROCH OK/KS BORDER EARLY SUN MORN. SOME
SHALLOW LLVL MOIST MAY MAKE A MOVE BACK NORTH LATE TONIGHT BUT
WITH SUNSHINE EARLY SUNDAY...DRY AIR FROM ABV WILL QUICKLY MIX
OUT LLVLS AND MAKE TRW DVLPMNT UNLIKELY OVR MOST OF FA. EXCEPTION
MAY BE IN ARK ZNS AND ZN 77...BUT CHCS WILL BE LESS THAN 10% SO
WILL NOT INCLUDE IN ZNS. MODELS TRY TO BRING ANOTHER WK FNT THRU FA
SUN NIGHT...BUT WITH UPPER RDG CONT TO BUILD INTO PLAINS...ANY BNDRY
SHUD BE VRY SHALLOW AND COOLING WILL BE VRY MINIMAL. SHALLOW SFC
BNDRY MAY REMAIN OVR N TX MONDAY THEN LFT NORTH MONDAY NIGHT
AS NEXT L/W TROF MOVES INTO WRN STATES. SOME 80 DEG DWPTS SHOWING
UP ALONG GULF COAST SO THIS SYS SHUD HAVE SUMMERTIME-LIKE MOISTURE
TO WORK WITH WHEN IT MOVES INTO THE PLAINS BY MID WEEK.

WILL FAVOR SLGTLY COOLER THAN MOS MINS IN THE NORTH AND WARMER THAN
MOS MINS IN THE SOUTH AND GO WITH PERSISTENCE FOR MAXES THE NEXT FEW
DAYS. TODAY MOST PLACES SAW AT LEAST UPPER 80S WITH SOME LOWER 90S.
CHCS FOR PCP WILL BE CLOSE TO NIL UNTIL PERHAPS MONDAY NIGHT OR TUE
AT THE EARLIEST.
/13

TUL 06t2/089 059/090 065 -000
FSM 066/092 058/092 062 1-00
MLC 065/092 058/092 066 -000
BVO 058/088 057/088 XXX -000
FYV 062/089 057/089 XXX 1-00
IDB 065/093 061/093 XXX 1-00
4M1 065/091 060/090 XXX 1-00

.TUL...NONE.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 13, 7:12 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSABenton48 min
May 13, 7:22 PM CDTTornado WarningTSABenton53 min
May 13, 8:13 PM CDTTornado WarningTSABenton47 min
May 13, 9:19 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningTSABenton3 hr
May 13, 9:24 PM CDTTornado WarningTSACarroll, Madison51 min
May 13, 9:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAWashington46 min
May 13, 9:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSABenton48 min
May 13, 9:52 PM CDTTornado WarningTSABenton, Washington53 min
May 13, 10:14 PM CDTTornado WarningTSAMadison46 min
May 13, 10:41 PM CDTTornado WarningTSAMadison, Washington49 min
May 13, 11:01 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningTSAMadison, Washington3 hr
May 13, 11:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAWashington45 min
May 13, 11:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAMadison52 min
May 14, 12:15 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSACrawford, Washington45 min
May 14, 12:40 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAMadison35 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.