Alert archive / Arkansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 1, NWS Memphis, TN

January 4, 1997Crittenden County, Arkansas; Shelby County, Tennessee

NWS Memphis, TN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jan 4, 1997, 5:46 PM CST for Crittenden County, Arkansas; Shelby County, Tennessee. It was in force for 49 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
Jan 4, 1997, 5:46 PM CST (23:46 UTC)
Expired
Jan 4, 1997, 6:35 PM CST
In force
49 min
Issued by
NWS Memphis, TN
Area
Whole counties

Counties Crittenden County, AR, Shelby County, TN

The radar

The Memphis radar (KNQA), 27 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:44 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
Jan 4, 6:15 PM CSTHail 0.75Millington, TN
Jan 4, 6:40 PM CSTHail 1Rosemark, TN

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
Jan 4, 4:15 PM CSTTornado WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 12:00Z, 11.8 hours before the alert went out and 43 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 1997-01-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 41 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 1997-01-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 211 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
41 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-257 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
658 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
211 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
244 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.

633 
WUUS1 KMEM 042347 RRA
SVRMEM
ARC035-TNC157-050035-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
546 PM CST SAT JAN 4 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS TN HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 635 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN NORTHEASTERN ARKANSAS

   ...EASTERN CRITTENDEN COUNTY

IN WESTERN TENNESSEE

   ...SHELBY COUNTY
 
AT 545 PM...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
FROM MARION TO HORSESHOE LAKE. THESE STORMS ARE MOVING NORTHEAST AT
35 MPH AND WILL PASS THROUGH WEST MEMPHIS AND DOWNTOWN MEMPHIS BY
600 PM. EXPECT DAMAGING WINDS AS THESE STORMS PASS THROUGH.

.A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THE WARNED AREA.
REMEMBER...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE
TORNADOES WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING. REMAIN CALM BUT BE
ALERT TO RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS.

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Arkansas, 1997Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Tennessee, 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.