Alert archive / Arkansas / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997
Flash Flood Warning 3, NWS Little Rock, AR
NWS Little Rock, AR issued this flash flood warning at Feb 20, 1997, 7:46 PM CST for Polk County, Arkansas. It was in force for 3 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- Feb 20, 1997, 7:46 PM CST (01:46 UTC)
- Expired
- Feb 20, 1997, 10:45 PM CST
- In force
- 3 hr
- Issued by
- NWS Little Rock, AR
- Area
- Whole counties
County Polk County, AR
The nearest sounding before it
Shreveport, LA (KSHV), launched 00:00Z, 1.8 hours before the alert went out and 227 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
- 820 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -3 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 620 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 60 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 302 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 415 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 1.9
- Supercell composite
- 7.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KLIT 210144 FFWLIT ARC113-210445- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED FLASH FLOOD WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 746 PM CST THU FEB 20 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LITTLE ROCK AR HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1045 PM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN WESTERN ARKANSAS ...POLK COUNTY AT 740 PM...HEAVY RAINS CONTINUE TO MOVE ACROSS PORTIONS OF POLK COUNTY. A REPORT FROM JUST SOUTH OF MENA INDICATED THAT RAINFALL RATES WERE NEAR TWO INCHES PER HOUR. RESIDENTS IN THE AREA SHOULD BE ALERT TO RAPIDLY RISING WATERS ALONG STREAMS AND FLOOD PRONE AREAS. BE PREPARED TO MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND. MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT ATTEMPT TO DRIVE THROUGH LOW WATER CvROSSINGS THAT ARE FLOODED. 34 &
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this flash flood 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, Feb 20, 5:50 PM CST, 1 hour 56 minutes before
ARZ003>009-012>018-020>028-030>073-210145- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 550 PM CST THU FEB 20 1997 ...TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT THIS EVENING... TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 51 IS IN EFFECT FOR WESTERN AND CENTRAL ARKANSAS UNTIL MIDNIGHT. A STRONG STORM SYSTEM MOVING THROUGH TEXAS THIS EVENING WILL APPROACH ARKANSAS LATER THIS EVENING. SEVERE WEATHER WAS BREAKING OUT ACROSS EAST TEXAS...AND WILL MOVE INTO SOUTHWEST ARKANSAS DURING THE NEXT COUPLE OF HOURS. CONDITIONS ACROSS ARKANSAS ARE UNSTABLE...STORMS THAT DEVELOP IN THE WEST AND CENTRAL AREAS COULD BECOME SEVERE QUICKLY. ALONG WITH THE THREAT OF DAMAGING STORMS IN ARKANSAS...HEAVY RAINS WILL ACCOMPANY SOME OF THE THUNDERSTORMS. RESIDENTS ARE ADVISED TO STAY ABREAST OF DEVELOPING WEATHER THIS EVENING. 34
Special weather statement, Feb 20, 5:51 PM CST, 1 hour 55 minutes before
ARZ003>009-012>018-020>028-030>073-210145- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 550 PM CST THU FEB 20 1997 ...TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT THIS EVENING... TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 51 IS IN EFFECT FOR WESTERN AND CENTRAL ARKANSAS UNTIL MIDNIGHT. A STRONG STORM SYSTEM MOVING THROUGH TEXAS THIS EVENING WILL APPROACH ARKANSAS LATER THIS EVENING. SEVERE WEATHER WAS BREAKING OUT ACROSS EAST TEXAS...AND WILL MOVE INTO SOUTHWEST ARKANSAS DURING THE NEXT COUPLE OF HOURS. CONDITIONS ACROSS ARKANSAS ARE UNSTABLE...STORMS THAT DEVELOP IN THE WEST AND CENTRAL AREAS COULD BECOME SEVERE QUICKLY. ALONG WITH THE THREAT OF DAMAGING STORMS IN ARKANSAS...HEAVY RAINS WILL ACCOMPANY SOME OF THE THUNDERSTORMS. RESIDENTS ARE ADVISED TO STAY ABREAST OF DEVELOPING WEATHER THIS EVENING. 34
The office that day
Everything else NWS Little Rock, AR issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 20, 8:31 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Logan | 64 min |
| Feb 20, 8:34 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Franklin | 66 min |
| Feb 20, 8:48 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Johnson | 52 min |
| Feb 20, 8:51 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Yell | 49 min |
| Feb 20, 9:03 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Garland, Hot Spring | 47 min |
| Feb 20, 9:36 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Dallas | 64 min |
| Feb 20, 10:00 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Conway | 35 min |
| Feb 20, 10:03 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Faulkner | 62 min |
| Feb 20, 10:09 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Pulaski | 61 min |
| Feb 20, 10:45 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Cleburne | 65 min |
Nearby
Flash Flood Warnings in Arkansas, 1997Every flash flood warning in 1997
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.