Alert archive / Arkansas / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 8, NWS Memphis, TN

March 1, 1997Craighead County, Arkansas

NWS Memphis, TN issued this flash flood warning at Mar 1, 1997, 7:48 PM CST for Craighead County, Arkansas. It was in force for 4 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
Mar 1, 1997, 7:48 PM CST (01:48 UTC)
Expired
Mar 1, 1997, 11:50 PM CST
In force
4 hr
Issued by
NWS Memphis, TN
Area
Whole counties

County Craighead County, AR

The radar

The Memphis radar (KNQA), 87 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:50 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 00:00Z, 1.8 hours before the alert went out and 127 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 00:00Z on 1997-03-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 491 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 00:00Z on 1997-03-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -47 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
491 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-31 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
602 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
69 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-47 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
90 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
0.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMEM 020149
FFWMEM
ARC031-020550-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
748 PM CST SAT MAR 1 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS TN HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1150 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN NORTHEASTERN ARKANSAS

   ...CRAIGHEAD COUNTY
 
UPWARDS OF THREE INCHES OF RAIN FELL ON PARTS OF CRAIGHEAD COUNTY
BETWEEN 400 PM AND 700 THIS EVENING.  DRAINAGES AND LOW AREAS ARE
BECOMING INUNDATED AND WATER IS SPREADING OVER ROADS.

THE RAIN WILL END LATER TONIGHT AS A COLD FRONT MOVES THROUGH
BETWEEN 900 PM AND 1100 PM BUT FLOODING WILL CONTINUE FOR SEVERAL
HOURS AS THE RAIN WATER WORKS ITS WAY INTO DRAIN(AGES.

.DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE
ROADWAY. THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOUR CAR TO CROSS
SAFELY. VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE ABANDONED QUICKLY.
MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 1, 6:11 PM CSTTornado WarningMEGMississippi49 min
Mar 1, 7:24 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningMEGMississippi4 hr
Mar 1, 7:42 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningMEGCross, Poinsett4 hr
Mar 1, 9:28 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGPhillips32 min
Mar 1, 10:03 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningMEGCrittenden4 hr

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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.