Alert archive / Arkansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 137, NWS Memphis, TN
NWS Memphis, TN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 2, 1997, 4:37 PM CDT for Lee County, Arkansas. It was in force for 48 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
- May 2, 1997, 4:37 PM CDT (21:37 UTC)
- Expired
- May 2, 1997, 5:25 PM CDT
- In force
- 48 min
- Issued by
- NWS Memphis, TN
- Area
- Whole counties
County Lee County, AR
The radar
The Memphis radar (KNQA), 104 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:38 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 2, 4:50 PM CDT | Hail 1 | Moro, AR | Hail ranging from dime to quarter size fell near Moro. |
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, 9.6 hours before the alert went out and 76 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
- 496 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -404 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 733 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 51 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 534 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 701 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.3
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KMEM 022138 RRA SVRMEM ARC077-022225- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN 437 PM CDT FRI MAY 2 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS TN HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 525 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN NORTHEASTERN ARKANSAS ...LEE COUNTY AT 435 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A RAPIDLY DEVELOPING THUNDERSTORM MOVING INTO WESTERN LEE COUNTY. THIS STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 50 MPH AND WILL AFFECT MORO.. OAK FOREST AND WESTOR BY 450 PM. THIS STORM WILL LIKELY PRODUCE LARGE HAIL. .SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH... DESTRUCTIV2E HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN. FOR YOUR PROTECTION...MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS. HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO DO NOT DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.
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
Special weather statement, May 2, 11:20 AM CDT, 5 hours 17 minutes before
MOZ113-115-TNZ001>102-022200- SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR TENNESSEE AND THE MISSOURI BOOTHEEL NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN 1120 AM CDT FRI MAY 2 1997 ...SEVERE WEATHER POSSIBLE ACROSS THE MISSOURI BOOTHEEL AND MUCH OF TENNESSEE THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT... A SIGNIFICANT OUTBREAK OF SEVERE WEATHER IS POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT ACROSS THE MISSOURI BOOTHEEL AND MUCH OF TENNESSEE. LARGE HAIL..DAMAGING WINDS AND A FEW TORNADOES ARE EXPECTED WITH THIS SYSTEM. THE AREA OF GREATEST CONCERN WILL BE DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING ACROSS THE WEST HALF OF TENNESSEE..INCLUDING AREAS SUCH AS NASHVILLE.. MEMPHIS..JACKSON AND DYERSBURG. THE STORMS WILL MOVE EAST ACROSS THE STATE OVERNIGHT. LOW PRESSURE WAS FORMING OVER MISSOURI THIS MORNING..AND WILL TRACK ACROSS THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER VALLEY INTO THE LOWER GREAT LAKES OVERNIGHT. AN ASSSOCIATED COLD FRONT WILL MOVE INTO WEST TENNESSEE THIS EVENING AND AND MOVE ACROSS TENNESSEE OVERNIGHT. THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP AHEAD OF THE COLD FRONT IN ARKANSAS THIS AFTERNOON..MOVING INTO WEST TENNESSEE BY EVENING..THEN EASTWARD ACROSS THE STATE OVERNIGHT. SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL LIKELY BE REQUIRED ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE MISSOURI BOOTHEEL AND TENNESSEE THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. THIS IS A POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS SITUATION. PERSONS ACROSS THE MISSOURI BOOTHEEL AND TENNESSEE SHOULD REVIEW SEVERE WEATHER SAFETY RULES AND LISTEN TO RADIO..TV..OR NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WATCHES AND WARNINGS.
Special weather statement, May 2, 11:30 AM CDT, 5 hours 7 minutes before
MOZ113-115-TNZ001>102-022200- SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR TENNESSEE AND THE MISSOURI BOOTHEEL NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN 1120 AM CDT FRI MAY 2 1997 ...SEVERE WEATHER POSSIBLE ACROSS THE MISSOURI BOOTHEEL AND MUCH OF TENNESSEE THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT... A SIGNIFICANT OUTBREAK OF SEVERE WEATHER IS POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT ACROSS THE MISSOURI BOOTHEEL AND MUCH OF TENNESSEE. LARGE HAIL..DAMAGING WINDS AND A FEW TORNADOES ARE EXPECTED WITH THIS SYSTEM. THE AREA OF GREATEST CONCERN WILL BE DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING ACROSS THE WEST HALF OF TENNESSEE..INCLUDING AREAS SUCH AS NASHVILLE.. MEMPHIS..JACKSON AND DYERSBURG. THE STORMS WILL MOVE EAST ACROSS THE STATE OVERNIGHT. LOW PRESSURE WAS FORMING OVER MISSOURI THIS MORNING..AND WILL TRACK ACROSS THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER VALLEY INTO THE LOWER GREAT LAKES OVERNIGHT. AN ASSSOCIATED COLD FRONT WILL MOVE INTO WEST TENNESSEE THIS EVENING AND AND MOVE ACROSS TENNESSEE OVERNIGHT. THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP AHEAD OF THE COLD FRONT IN ARKANSAS THIS AFTERNOON..MOVING INTO WEST TENNESSEE BY EVENING..THEN EASTWARD ACROSS THE STATE OVERNIGHT. SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL LIKELY BE REQUIRED ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE MISSOURI BOOTHEEL AND TENNESSEE THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. THIS IS A POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS SITUATION. PERSONS ACROSS THE MISSOURI BOOTHEEL AND TENNESSEE SHOULD REVIEW SEVERE WEATHER SAFETY RULES AND LISTEN TO RADIO..TV..OR NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WATCHES AND WARNINGS.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Memphis, TN issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2, 1:00 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Randolph | 50 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.