Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Warnings in 1997
Tornado Warning 35, NWS Memphis, TN
NWS Memphis, TN issued this tornado warning at May 27, 1997, 1:40 AM CDT for Craighead County, Arkansas. It was in force for 30 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 27, 1997, 1:40 AM CDT (06:40 UTC)
- Expired
- May 27, 1997, 2:10 AM CDT
- In force
- 30 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 06:41 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 27, 1:55 AM CDT | Tornado F0 | Jonesboro, AR | A tornado touched down just north of Jonesboro causing minimal 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, 6.7 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
- 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.
000 TTAA00 KMEM 270641 RRA TORMEM ARC031-270710- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN 140 AM CDT TUE MAY 27 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS TN HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 210 AM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN NORTHEASTERN ARKANSAS ...CRAIGHEAD COUNTY AT 137 AM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A DEVELOPING TORNADO JUST NORTH OF JONESBORO. THIS STORM IS MOVING EAST-SOUTHEAST AROUND 20 MPH AND WILL AFFECT PLEASANT GROVE BY 150 AM. .IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SAFETY IN AN INTERIOR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY. AVOID WINDOWS.
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, 11:21 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MEG | Lawrence | 34 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, 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.