Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 22, NWS Tulsa, OK

April 21, 1996Crawford County, Sebastian County, Arkansas

NWS Tulsa, OK issued this tornado warning at Apr 21, 1996, 11:08 PM CDT for Crawford County, Sebastian County, Arkansas. It was in force for 52 min. 5 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: Apr 21, 1996, 11:08 PM CDT (04:08 UTC)
Expired: Apr 22, 1996, 12:00 AM CDT
In force: 52 min
Issued by: NWS Tulsa, OK
Area: Whole counties

Counties Crawford County, AR, Sebastian County, AR

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where
Apr 21, 11:08 PM CDT	Hail 0.75	Ft Smith, AR
Apr 21, 11:12 PM CDT	Tornado F2	Ft Smith, AR
Apr 21, 11:18 PM CDT	Tornado F3	Van Buren, AR
Apr 21, 11:23 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Van Buren, AR
Apr 21, 11:30 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Rudy, 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

Springfield, MO (KSGF), launched 00:00Z, 4.1 hours before the alert went out and 172 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: 1598 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -8 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 594 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 54 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 8 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 30 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: -0.0
Supercell composite: -0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KTUL 220410
TORTUL
ARC033-131-220500-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
1108 PM CDT SUN APR 21 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TULSA HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL MIDNIGHT CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN NORTHWEST ARKANSAS
 
   ...SOUTHERN CRAWFORD COUNTY
 
IN WEST CENTRAL ARKANSAS
 
   ...NORTHERN SEBASTIAN COUNTY
 
AT 1108 PM RADAR INDICATED A DEVELOPING TORNADO NEAR FORT SMITH. THE
TORNADO IS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH TOWARD VAN BUREN.
 
 
 
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 IN|TERIOR 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.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 21, 10:54 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Crawford, Sebastian	51 min
Apr 21, 11:26 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TSA	Crawford	49 min
Apr 21, 11:50 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TSA	Madison	40 min
Apr 22, 12:28 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Madison	32 min
Apr 22, 12:49 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Madison	41 min
Apr 22, 12:57 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	TSA	Washington	48 min
Apr 22, 1:24 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Madison	51 min
Apr 22, 1:32 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Carroll	43 min
Apr 22, 1:42 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	TSA	Washington	3 hr
Apr 22, 1:50 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	TSA	Crawford, Washington	40 min
Apr 22, 2:04 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Crawford, Sebastian	41 min
Apr 22, 2:10 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Carroll	35 min
Apr 22, 2:31 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	TSA	Madison	119 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.