Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 39, NWS Little Rock, AR

May 27, 1996Saline County, Arkansas

NWS Little Rock, AR issued this tornado warning at May 27, 1996, 9:37 PM CDT for Saline County, Arkansas. It was in force for 53 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 27, 1996, 9:37 PM CDT (02:37 UTC)
Expired
May 27, 1996, 10:30 PM CDT
In force
53 min
Issued by
NWS Little Rock, AR
Area
Whole counties

County Saline County, AR

The radar

The Little Rock radar (KLZK), 43 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:39 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 00:00Z, 2.6 hours before the alert went out and 250 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 1996-05-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2600 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 1996-05-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 119 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
2600 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-9 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
885 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
51 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
119 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
157 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
2.1
Supercell composite
8.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLIT 280238
TORLIT
ARC125-280330-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
937 PM CDT MON MAY 27 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LITTLE ROCK HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1030 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN CENTRAL ARKANSAS
 
   ...SALINE COUNTY
 
AT 0935 CDT...A TORNADO WAS LOCATED AT HOT SPRINGS VILLAGE AT 0934 PM
CDT. MOVEMENT WAS EAST AT 25 MPH.
 
 
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 CUSHIdONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.
 
 
 
&

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

Local storm report, May 27, 5:54 PM CDT, 3 hours 43 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
544 PM CDT MON MAY 27 1996

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0235 AM    SPRINGDALE                AR   .5 INCH HAIL
05/27/96   WASHINGTON                     ALONG WITH STRONG WINDS
                                          AND HEAVY RAINS.

0815 AM    DANVILLE                  AR   .75 INCH HAIL
05/27/96   YELL                           RECEIVED FROM STATE
                                          WARNING POINT

1040 AM    CURTIS                    AR   .75 INCH HAIL
05/27/96   CLARK                          FROM SHERIFF'S OFFICE

0224 PM    OKOLONA                   AR   .75 INCH HAIL
05/27/96   CLARK                          ONE MILE NORTH OF OKOLONA.
                                          RECEIVED FROM THE CURTIS
                                          P.D.

0245 PM    CURTIS                    AR   TORNADO
05/27/96   CLARK                          1 HOUSE DESTROYED AT
                                          CURTIS, TREES DOWN, OTHER
                                          DAMAGE. RECEIVED FROM
                                          CLARK COUNTY OES
                                          COORDINATOR.

0335 PM    BENTON                    AR   TORNADO
05/27/96   SALINE                         PUBLIC REPORT OF A TORNADO
                                          VISIBLE FROM WAL-MART
                                          PARKING LOT IN BENTON.

0335 PM    DALARK                    AR   WIND DAMAGE
05/27/96   DALLAS                         TREES DOWN ALONG HWY 7
                                          JUST SOUTH OF DALARK.
                                          REPORT FROM THE PUBLIC.

0336 PM    HOT SPRINGS               AR
05/27/96   GARLAND                        THE PUBLIC REPORTED A
                                          FUNNEL CLOUD OVER THE CITY
                                          OF HOT SPRINGS

0341 PM    BRYANT                    AR   TORNADO
05/27/96   SALINE                         A TORNADO WAS REPORTED BY
                                          THE PUBLIC IN BRYANT.

0341 PM    MANNING                   AR   TORNADO
05/27/96   DALLAS                         PUBLIC REPORT OF A TORNADO
                                          AT MANNING WITH DAMAGE TO
                                          CARS, TREES AND HOUSES

0450 PM    CENTERVILLE               AR   1.75 INCH HAIL
05/27/96   YELL                           HAIL REPORTED BY THE
                                          COOPERATIVE OBSERVER AND
                                          THE SHERIFF'S OFFICE AT
                                          CENTERVILLE AND MOUNT
                                          GEORGE (2 W OF
                                          CENTERVILLE).

0502 PM    CENTERVILLE               AR   50 MPH TSTM GUST
05/27/96   YELL                           AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS
                                          REPORTED 50 MPH WINDS.

0342 PM    GREENBRIER                AR   1.75 INCH HAIL
05/27/96   FAULKNER                       HAMS AND COOPERATIVE OBSERVER
                                          REPORTED HAIL RANGING IN SIZE
                                          FROM NICKEL TO QUARTER TO
                                          GOLFBALL.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 27, 7:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKFaulkner46 min
May 27, 7:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKWoodruff49 min
May 27, 8:06 PM CDTTornado WarningLZKWhite69 min
May 27, 8:08 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKFaulkner37 min
May 27, 8:51 PM CDTTornado WarningLZKPolk39 min
May 27, 8:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKPrairie46 min
May 27, 9:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKConway42 min
May 27, 9:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKGarland53 min
May 27, 9:22 PM CDTTornado WarningLZKGarland38 min
May 27, 9:24 PM CDTTornado WarningLZKMonroe51 min
May 27, 9:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKMontgomery, Pike50 min
May 27, 9:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKWhite49 min
May 27, 10:22 PM CDTTornado WarningLZKPulaski68 min
May 27, 10:40 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningLZKMonroe, Prairie, Woodruff4 hr
May 27, 10:40 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningLZKMontgomery5 hr
May 27, 10:40 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningLZKLonoke, Pulaski, Saline4 hr
May 27, 10:40 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningLZKGarland4 hr
May 27, 10:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKGarland, Saline59 min
May 27, 10:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKLonoke54 min
May 27, 11:38 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKGrant, Hot Spring52 min
May 28, 12:38 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKGarland37 min
May 28, 12:55 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKGrant35 min
May 28, 1:03 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKJefferson27 min
May 28, 1:15 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKGrant, Saline30 min
May 28, 1:37 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKArkansas53 min
May 28, 1:53 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKJefferson67 min
May 28, 2:37 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKArkansas68 min
May 28, 3:05 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKJefferson55 min
May 28, 3:52 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningLZKArkansas, Jefferson3 hr

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Arkansas, 1996Every tornado warning in 1996Tornadoes 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.