Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 26, NWS Memphis, TN

October 17, 1996Mississippi County, Poinsett County, Arkansas

NWS Memphis, TN issued this tornado warning at Oct 17, 1996, 8:41 PM CDT for Mississippi County, Poinsett County, Arkansas. It was in force for 49 min. 3 reports 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: Oct 17, 1996, 8:41 PM CDT (01:41 UTC)
Expired: Oct 17, 1996, 9:30 PM CDT
In force: 49 min
Issued by: NWS Memphis, TN
Area: Whole counties

Counties Mississippi County, AR, Poinsett County, AR

The radar

The Memphis radar (KNQA), 57 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:44 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
Oct 17, 8:45 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Payneway, AR
Oct 17, 8:50 PM CDT	Hail 1.75	Payneway, AR
Oct 17, 9:00 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Wilson, 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, 1.7 hours before the alert went out and 100 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 2013 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -21 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 941 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 99 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 156 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 1.0
Supercell composite: 5.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMEM 180145
TORMEM
ARC093-111-180230-

BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
841 PM CDT THU OCT 17 1996

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS TN HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 930 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN NORTHEASTERN ARKANSAS

   ...SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI COUNTY
   ...EASTERN POINSETT COUNTY
 
AT 840 PM..DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO NEAR MARKED
TREE MOVING EAST AROUND 35 MPH. THIS STORM WILL PASS NEAR BASSETT
IN SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI COUNTY BY 910 PM.

.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 SAFETY IN AN INTERIOR ROOM SUCH AS A
CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...OR CUSHIONS TO
COVER YOUR BODY. AVOID WINDOWS.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Memphis, TN issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Oct 17, 7:16 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Clay	49 min
Oct 17, 7:57 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Poinsett	48 min
Oct 17, 8:54 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Lee, St. Francis	51 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Arkansas, 1996 Every tornado warning in 1996 Tornadoes 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.