Alert archive / Arkansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 331, NWS Little Rock, AR

August 20, 1997Jefferson County, Lincoln County, Arkansas

NWS Little Rock, AR issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 20, 1997, 4:45 PM CDT for Jefferson County, Lincoln County, Arkansas. It was in force for 50 min. 2 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
Aug 20, 1997, 4:45 PM CDT (21:45 UTC)
Expired
Aug 20, 1997, 5:35 PM CDT
In force
50 min
Issued by
NWS Little Rock, AR
Area
Whole counties

Counties Jefferson County, AR, Lincoln County, AR

The radar

The Little Rock radar (KLZK), 90 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:47 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Aug 20, 5:00 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 50Star City, ARThunderstorm winds downed some large trees.
Aug 20, 5:20 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 50Pine Bluff, ARThunderstorm winds knocked down some large tree limbs and power lines.

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, 9.8 hours before the alert went out and 190 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 12:00Z on 1997-08-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1547 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 12:00Z on 1997-08-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 64 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
1547 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-35 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
974 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
15 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
64 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
51 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLIT 202145 RRA
SVRLIT
ARC069-079-202235-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
445 PM CDT WED AUG 20 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LITTLE ROCK AR HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 535 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN SOUTHEASTERN ARKANSAS

   ...JEFFERSON COUNTY
   ...LINCOLN COUNTY
 
AT 443 PM CDT...A LINT OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WAS DETECTED BY DOPPLER
RADAR FROM PINE BLUFF TO NEAR STAR CITY MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 15 MPH.

LOCATIONS IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE...
LADD                         AROUND 443 PM CDT  ...
PINEBERGEN                   AROUND 443 PM CDT  ...
GRIFFITH SPRING              AROUND 500 PM CDT  ...
TARRY                        AROUND 505 PM CDT  ...
STAR CITY                    AROUND 525 PM CDT  ...

THE MAIN THREAT WITH THIS STORM IS DIME SIZE HAIL OR LARGER. THE HAIL
MAY CAUSE SOME VEHICLE...CROP OR ROOF DAMAGE. STRONG AND GUSTY WINDS
CAN ALSO BE EXPECTED WITH THE STORM. FOR YOUR PROTECTION...GO INDOORS
UNTIL THE STORM PASSES.

48/206

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

Local storm report, Aug 20, 4:30 PM CDT, 15 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
430 PM CDT WED AUG 20 1997

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

0320 PM    7 N FORDYCE               AR   .88 INCH HAIL
08/20/97   DALLAS

0336 PM    10 SW SHERIDAN            AR   1.75 INCH HAIL
08/20/97   GRANT

0405 PM    WARREN                    AR   .88 INCH HAIL
08/20/97   BRADLEY

45
Local storm report, Aug 20, 4:34 PM CDT, 11 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
430 PM CDT WED AUG 20 1997

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

0320 PM    7 N FORDYCE               AR   .88 INCH HAIL
08/20/97   DALLAS

0336 PM    10 SW SHERIDAN            AR   1.75 INCH HAIL
08/20/97   GRANT

0405 PM    WARREN                    AR   .88 INCH HAIL
08/20/97   BRADLEY

45

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 20, 2:24 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKBradley51 min
Aug 20, 2:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKDrew49 min
Aug 20, 2:39 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKDallas51 min
Aug 20, 3:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKCleveland, Dallas46 min
Aug 20, 3:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKGrant48 min
Aug 20, 3:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKBradley46 min
Aug 20, 3:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKJefferson, Pulaski46 min
Aug 20, 4:05 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKDallas45 min
Aug 20, 4:23 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKCleveland47 min
Aug 20, 4:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKDallas48 min
Aug 20, 5:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKBradley47 min
Aug 20, 5:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKFranklin46 min
Aug 20, 6:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKDrew35 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Arkansas, 1997Every severe thunderstorm 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.