Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 37, NWS Little Rock, AR

July 4, 1997Calhoun County, Arkansas

NWS Little Rock, AR issued this tornado warning at Jul 4, 1997, 6:26 PM CDT for Calhoun County, Arkansas. It was in force for 34 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
Jul 4, 1997, 6:26 PM CDT (23:26 UTC)
Expired
Jul 4, 1997, 7:00 PM CDT
In force
34 min
Issued by
NWS Little Rock, AR
Area
Whole counties

County Calhoun County, AR

The radar

The Little Rock radar (KLZK), 144 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:27 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
Jul 4, 6:30 PM CDTHail 0.75Woodberry, 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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Jul 4, 6:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC4 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Shreveport, LA (KSHV), launched 12:00Z, 11.4 hours before the alert went out and 167 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, Shreveport, LA at 12:00Z on 1997-07-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1636 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, Shreveport, LA at 12:00Z on 1997-07-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -18 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
1636 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-148 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1109 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-18 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
30 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLIT 042326 RRA
TORLIT
ARC013-050000-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
626 PM CDT FRI JUL 4 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LITTLE ROCK AR HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 700 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN SOUTHWESTERN ARKANSAS

   ...CALHOUN COUNTY
 
AT 625 PM CDT...A POSSIBLE TORNADO WAS DETECTED BY DOPPLER RADAR 5
MILES NORTHWEST OF HAMPTON OR IN THE VICINITY OF WOODBERRY MOVING
SOUTHEAST AT 15 MPH.

LOCATIONS IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO INCLUDE...
WOODBERRY                    AROUND 625 PM CDT  ...
HAMPTON                      AROUND 640 PM CDT  ...
HARRELL                      AROUND 650 PM CDT  ...

A DOPPLER RADAR DETECTED TORNADO MEANS THAT THERE IS STRONG ROTATION
WITHIN A STORM. THE STORM MAY NOT BE PRODUCING A TORNADO AT THE
MOMENT...BUT IS EXPECTED TO DURING THE WARNING PERIOD. THE STORM MAY
ALSO BE ACCOMPANIED BY HAIL AND DAMAGING $STRAIGHT LINE WIND. THOSE IN
THE PATH OF THE STORM ARE ADVISED TO SEEK SHELTER RIGHT AWAY.

45/44

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 4, 7:39 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKCleburne31 min
Jul 4, 7:50 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKIndependence50 min
Jul 4, 8:28 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKFaulkner47 min
Jul 4, 3:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKGrant50 min
Jul 4, 5:22 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKClark48 min
Jul 4, 5:38 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKOuachita47 min
Jul 4, 6:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKCalhoun50 min
Jul 4, 6:47 PM CDTTornado WarningLZKBradley58 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Arkansas, 1997Every tornado warning in 1997Tornadoes 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.