Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Warnings in 1997
Tornado Warning 33, NWS Memphis, TN
NWS Memphis, TN issued this tornado warning at May 26, 1997, 11:21 PM CDT for Lawrence County, Arkansas. It was in force for 34 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 26, 1997, 11:21 PM CDT (04:21 UTC)
- Expired
- May 26, 1997, 11:55 PM CDT
- In force
- 34 min
- Issued by
- NWS Memphis, TN
- Area
- Whole counties
County Lawrence County, AR
The radar
The Memphis radar (KNQA), 136 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:23 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 26, 11:40 PM CDT | Hail 1 | Walnut Ridge, AR | |
| May 26, 11:55 PM CDT | Tornado F0 | Sedgwick, AR | A tornado briefly touched down in Sedgwick causing little damage. |
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 26, 9:00 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 00:00Z, 4.4 hours before the alert went out and 171 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
- 4008 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -14 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 884 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 30 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 30 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 121 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.8
- Supercell composite
- 4.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
796 WFUS1 KMEM 270422 RRA TORMEM ARC075-270455- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN 1121 PM CDT MON MAY 26 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS TN HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1155 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN NORTHEASTERN ARKANSAS ...LAWRENCE COUNTY AT 1120 PM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO JUST NORTHEAST OF BLACK ROCK. THIS STORM IS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 20 MPH AND WILL PASS NEAR WALNUT RIDGE BETWEEN 1140 AND 1150 PM. .THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION. ACT QUICKLY. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A PLACE OF SAFETY BELOW GROUND IF AVAILABLE. OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR POSSIBLE. AVOID WINDOWS. ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Memphis, TN issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 26, 7:19 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Mississippi | 46 min |
| May 26, 8:15 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Randolph | 45 min |
| May 26, 10:10 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Randolph | 50 min |
| May 26, 10:31 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Lawrence | 49 min |
| May 26, 11:01 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Randolph | 34 min |
| May 26, 11:16 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Lawrence | 49 min |
| May 26, 11:48 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Greene | 47 min |
| May 26, 11:57 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MEG | Craighead | 48 min |
| May 27, 1:06 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Lawrence | 34 min |
| May 27, 1:12 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Craighead | 48 min |
| May 27, 1:40 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | MEG | Craighead | 30 min |
| May 27, 2:11 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Poinsett | 49 min |
| May 27, 2:39 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | MEG | Cross, Poinsett | 31 min |
| May 27, 3:06 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | MEG | Crittenden | 49 min |
| May 27, 3:12 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | MEG | Mississippi, Poinsett | 48 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.