Alert archive / Arkansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 178, NWS Memphis, TN
NWS Memphis, TN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 30, 1997, 3:22 PM CDT for Craighead County, Arkansas. It was in force for 48 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
- May 30, 1997, 3:22 PM CDT (20:22 UTC)
- Expired
- May 30, 1997, 4:10 PM CDT
- In force
- 48 min
- 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 20:23 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 30, 3:40 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Jonesboro, AR | Several power poles were bent over. Some trees and power lines were blown down as well. |
| May 30, 3:45 PM CDT | Hail 1 | Jonesboro, 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.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 30, 2:45 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 12:00Z, 8.4 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1303 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -9 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 504 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 34 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 115 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 86 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 2.3
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
774 WUUS1 KMEM 302023 RRA SVRMEM ARC031-302110- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN 322 PM CDT FRI MAY 30 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS TN HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 410 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN NORTHEASTERN ARKANSAS ...CRAIGHEAD COUNTY AT 319 PM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS CENTERED ABOUT 8 MILES NORTH OF CASH IN WESTERN CRAIGHEAD COUNTY. MOVING TOWARD THE EAST SOUTHEAST AT 30 MPH .. THIS STORM WILL MOVE THROUGH CENTRAL CRAIGHEAD COUNTY .. REACHING THE JONESBORO AREA AROUND 345 PM AND THE LAKE CITY AREA AROUND 400 PM. .SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH... DESTRUCTIVE 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.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Memphis, TN issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 30, 4:30 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Cross | 35 min |
| May 30, 5:06 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Mississippi | 34 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.