Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 6, NWS Shreveport, LA

March 1, 1997Hempstead County, Arkansas

NWS Shreveport, LA issued this tornado warning at Mar 1, 1997, 1:44 PM CST for Hempstead County, Arkansas. It was in force for 31 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
Mar 1, 1997, 1:44 PM CST (19:44 UTC)
Expired
Mar 1, 1997, 2:15 PM CST
In force
31 min
Issued by
NWS Shreveport, LA
Area
Whole counties

County Hempstead County, AR

The radar

The Shreveport radar (KSHV), 144 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:43 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
Mar 1, 1:55 PM CSTTornado F2Hope, 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
Mar 1, 12:00 PM CSTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Shreveport, LA (KSHV), launched 12:00Z, 7.7 hours before the alert went out and 140 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, Shreveport, LA at 12:00Z on 1997-03-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1665 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, Shreveport, LA at 12:00Z on 1997-03-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 322 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
1665 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-14 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
510 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
44 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
322 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
390 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
2.9
Supercell composite
12.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KSHV 011945 RRA
TORSHV
ARC057-012015-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SHREVEPORT LA
144 PM CST SAT MAR 1 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SHREVEPORT HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  215 PM CST
FOR THE FOLLOWING AREA...
 
IN SOUTHWEST ARKANSAS
 
   ...HEMPSTEAD COUNTY
 
AT 143 PM CST DOPPLER RADAR IN SHREVEPORT INDICATED A DEVELOPING
TORNADO ABOUT 7 MILES SOUTHEAST OF FULTON ARKANSAS MOVING TO THE
NORTHEAST AT NEAR 40 MPH. THE POSSIBLE TORNADO WILL SPREAD
TOWARD THE SPRINGHILL AND HOPE AREAS.
 
 
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO...GO TO AN INTERIOR HALLWAY
...CLOSET...OR BATHROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. AVOID WINDOWS.
 
IF YOU ARE CAUG"HT IN YOUR CAR IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...LEAVE THE
CAR AND GO TO A STRONG BUILDING. IF NO STRUCTURE IS NEARBY...SEEK
SHELTER IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Shreveport, LA issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 1, 1:37 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVHempstead53 min
Mar 1, 2:16 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVNevada29 min
Mar 1, 2:21 PM CSTTornado WarningSHVNevada24 min
Mar 1, 4:57 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVColumbia48 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.