Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 37, NWS Memphis, TN

May 27, 1997Crittenden County, Arkansas

NWS Memphis, TN issued this tornado warning at May 27, 1997, 3:06 AM CDT for Crittenden County, Arkansas. It was in force for 49 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, 3:06 AM CDT (08:06 UTC)
Expired
May 27, 1997, 3:55 AM CDT
In force
49 min
Issued by
NWS Memphis, TN
Area
Whole counties

County Crittenden County, AR

The radar

The Memphis radar (KNQA), 42 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 08:08 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
May 27, 3:30 AM CDTHail 0.75Marion, 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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 27, 2:45 AM CDTTornado WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 00:00Z, 8.1 hours before the alert went out and 53 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 00:00Z on 1997-05-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 4008 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Little Rock, AR at 00:00Z on 1997-05-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 30 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
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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

832 
WFUS1 KMEM 270807 RRA
TORMEM
ARC035-270855-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
306 AM CDT TUE MAY 27 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS TN HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 355 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN NORTHEASTERN ARKANSAS

   ...NORTHERN CRITTENDEN COUNTY
 
AT 304 AM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO NEAR THE
CROSS-CRITTENDEN COUNTY LINE MOVING EAST AROUND 20 MPH. THIS STORM
WILL AFFECT TURRELL BY 320 AM.

THIS STORM HAS A HISTORY OF PRODUCING TORNADOES. TAKE COVER NOW

.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.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 26, 7:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGMississippi46 min
May 26, 8:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGRandolph45 min
May 26, 10:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGRandolph50 min
May 26, 10:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGLawrence49 min
May 26, 11:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGRandolph34 min
May 26, 11:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGLawrence49 min
May 26, 11:21 PM CDTTornado WarningMEGLawrence34 min
May 26, 11:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGGreene47 min
May 26, 11:57 PM CDTTornado WarningMEGCraighead48 min
May 27, 1:06 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGLawrence34 min
May 27, 1:12 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGCraighead48 min
May 27, 1:40 AM CDTTornado WarningMEGCraighead30 min
May 27, 2:11 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGPoinsett49 min
May 27, 2:39 AM CDTTornado WarningMEGCross, Poinsett31 min
May 27, 3:12 AM CDTTornado WarningMEGMississippi, Poinsett48 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.