Alert archive / Arkansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 252, NWS Little Rock, AR

April 28, 1996Jackson County, Arkansas

NWS Little Rock, AR issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 28, 1996, 11:08 PM CDT for Jackson County, Arkansas. It was in force for 37 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
Apr 28, 1996, 11:08 PM CDT (04:08 UTC)
Expired
Apr 28, 1996, 11:45 PM CDT
In force
37 min
Issued by
NWS Little Rock, AR
Area
Whole counties

County Jackson County, AR

The radar

The Memphis radar (KNQA), 125 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:08 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Apr 28, 11:20 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 50Grubbs, AR

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in.

The nearest sounding before it

Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 00:00Z, 4.1 hours before the alert went out and 143 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 00:00Z on 1996-04-29Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1805 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, Little Rock, AR at 00:00Z on 1996-04-29The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 222 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
1805 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-28 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1237 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
222 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
310 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.7
Supercell composite
9.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLIT 290408
SVRLIT
ARC067-290445-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
1108 PM CDT SUN APR 28 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LITTLE ROCK HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1145 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN EAST ARKANSAS
 
   ...JACKSON COUNTY
 
AT 1105 PM...DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
JUST SOUTH OF DENMARK. MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH. THIS STORM WILL
PRODUCE STRONG AND DAMAGING WINDS.
 
 
A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THE WARNED AREA.  REMEMBER
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES
WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING.  REMAIN CALM BUT BE ALERT TO
RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm 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 28, 7:48 PM CDT, 3 hours 20 minutes before
ARZ003>009-012>018-020>027-030>034-037>046-050>056-059>063-066-067-
070>073-290300-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
747 PM CDT SUN APR 28 1996

...TORNADO WATCHES COVER MUCH OF ARKANSAS...

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1100 PM CDT FOR 7 COUNTIES IN
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS.

ANOTHER TORNADO WATCH COVERS MOST OF THE REMAINDER OF ARKANSAS...
EXCEPT EASTERN SECTIONS...UNTIL 100 AM CDT.

AT 745 PM...A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WAS MAKING ITS WAY THROUGH PARTS OF
WESTERN ARKANSAS. IN ADDITION...OTHER THUNDERSTORMS WERE DEVELOPING OUT
AHEAD OF THE LINE.

THE AIR OVER ARKANSAS IS VERY WARM...MOIST AND UNSTABLE. THUS...THE
STAGE IS SET FOR SEVERE WEATHER.

THUNDERSTORMS TONIGHT ARE EXPECTED TO PRODUCE LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING
WINDS...AND POSSIBLY A FEW TORNADOES.

PEOPLE IN THE AREAS COVERED BY THE TORNADO WATCHES WILL NEED TO KEEP A
CLOSE EYE ON THE WEATHER...AND LISTEN FOR SEVERE WEATHER WARNINGS.

bTHE THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER IN ARKANSAS IS EXPECTED TO LAST WELL INTO
THE NIGHT.

28
Special weather statement, Apr 28, 9:54 PM CDT, 1 hour 14 minutes before
ARZ003-004-012-013-020-021-030-037-040-290400-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
954 PM CDT SUN APR 28 1996

...SOME COUNTIES IN WESTERN ARKANSAS CLEARED FROM TORNADO WATCH...

THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN WESTERN ARKANSAS HAVE BEEN CLEARED FROM THE
TORNADO WATCH...

BOONE...MARION...NEWTON...SEARCY...FRANKLIN...JOHNSON...LOGAN...
SCOTT...AND POLK.

THE THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER HAS DIMINISHED IN THESE COUNTIES...AS
THE STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS HAVE NOW MOVED OFF TO THE EAST.

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 100 AM CDT FOR A LARGE PART
OF ARKANSAS. THIS WATCH COVERS MOST OF THE STATE...EXCEPT FOR THE
EASTERN PART AND THE COUNTIES THAT HAVE ALREADY BEEN CLEARED IN THE
WEST.

28

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 28, 7:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKScott49 min
Apr 28, 7:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKFranklin49 min
Apr 28, 7:23 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKPolk67 min
Apr 28, 7:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKVan Buren43 min
Apr 28, 8:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKSearcy38 min
Apr 28, 8:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKPike36 min
Apr 28, 9:08 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKFulton37 min
Apr 28, 9:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKIzard42 min
Apr 28, 9:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKConway42 min
Apr 28, 9:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKPerry48 min
Apr 28, 9:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKFaulkner42 min
Apr 28, 10:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKConway44 min
Apr 28, 10:24 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKGarland51 min
Apr 28, 10:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKPerry47 min
Apr 28, 11:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKSaline49 min
Apr 28, 11:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKYell47 min
Apr 29, 12:33 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKConway42 min
Apr 29, 12:58 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKLonoke, Prairie47 min
Apr 29, 1:32 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKWoodruff43 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Arkansas, 1996Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1996

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.