Alert archive / Arkansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 2, NWS Memphis, TN
NWS Memphis, TN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jan 18, 1996, 6:42 AM CST for Poinsett County, Arkansas. It was in force for 48 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
- Jan 18, 1996, 6:42 AM CST (12:42 UTC)
- Expired
- Jan 18, 1996, 7:30 AM CST
- In force
- 48 min
- Issued by
- NWS Memphis, TN
- Area
- Whole counties
County Poinsett County, AR
The radar
The Memphis radar (KNQA), 76 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 12:42 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 18, 7:40 AM CST | Tornado F0 | Lepanto, 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 12:00Z, 0.7 hours before the alert went out and 105 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 9 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -2 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 578 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 75 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -370 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- -143 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 WUUS1 KMEM 181244 RRA SVRMEM ARC111-181330- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN 642 AM CST THU JAN 18 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 730 AM CST FOR PERSONS IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... IN EAST ARKANSAS ...WESTERN POINSETT COUNTY AT 640 AM...DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PUSHING INTO THE WESTERN PART OF POINSETT COUNTY. THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 45 MILES AN HOUR. EXPECT DAMAGING WINDS IN THE HARRISBURG AREA BY 710 AM. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 58 MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN. FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS. HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD. : VFXUS|gf6WWUSj o WWUS Lf= WWUS EPWWCN FPUS C WWUS d<WWCNr FXUSFPCN@ qf6WWUS lQ6WWUS pQ WWUS XI6WWUS @/NG 50 Br&_[ WWUS @"6WWUS P$+ WWUSX m6WWUSB |C WWUS
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, Jan 18, 6:16 AM CST, 26 minutes before
TNZ001>102-181815- TENNESSEE SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN 613 AM CST (713 AM EST) THU JAN 18 1996 ...SEVERE WEATHER EXPECTED OVER WEST AND SECTIONS OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE TODAY... A STRONG COLD FRONT WILL BE MOVING INTO WEST TENNESSEE DURING LATE MORNING..AND IS FORECAST TO REACH THE NASHVILLE AREA TOWARD EVENING. NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH THE COLD FRONT..AND SOME OF THESE ARE EXPECTED TO BE SEVERE..WITH DAMAGING WINDS AND HAIL. FOLLOWING FRONTAL PASSAGE..THE SEVERE WEATHER THREAT ENDS..BUT BLUSTERY CONDITIONS WILL THEN PREVAIL AS WINDS WILL REMAIN STRONG AND TEMPERATURES WILL PLUNGE. IN SUMMARY..PERSONS LIVING OVER WEST AND MIDDLE SECTIONS OF TENNESSEE SHOULD REMAIN ALERT FOR SEVERE WEATHER TODAY BY MONITORING NOAA WEATHER RADIO..OR COMMERCIAL RADIO AND TELEVISION.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Memphis, TN issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 18, 6:57 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Randolph | 48 min |
| Jan 18, 7:14 AM CST | Tornado Warning | MEG | Lawrence | 46 min |
| Jan 18, 7:16 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | St. Francis | 44 min |
| Jan 18, 7:23 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Craighead | 52 min |
| Jan 18, 7:28 AM CST | Tornado Warning | MEG | Poinsett | 47 min |
| Jan 18, 7:44 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Crittenden | 46 min |
| Jan 18, 8:08 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Mississippi | 52 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.