Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Watches in 1997
Tornado Watch 425
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Jun 13, 1997, 7:45 PM CDT for 42 counties in Arkansas; Cass County, Texas. It was in force for 6 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Jun 13, 1997, 7:45 PM CDT (00:45 UTC)
- Expired
- Jun 14, 1997, 2:00 AM CDT
- In force
- 6 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 43 counties
Arkansas County, AR, Ashley County, AR, Bradley County, AR, Calhoun County, AR, Chicot County, AR, Clark County, AR, Cleveland County, AR, Columbia County, AR, Conway County, AR, Dallas County, AR, Desha County, AR, Drew County, AR, Faulkner County, AR, Garland County, AR, Grant County, AR, Hempstead County, AR, Hot Spring County, AR, Howard County, AR, Jefferson County, AR, Lafayette County, AR, Lincoln County, AR, Little River County, AR, Logan County, AR, Lonoke County, AR, Miller County, AR, Monroe County, AR, Montgomery County, AR, Nevada County, AR, Ouachita County, AR, Perry County, AR, Pike County, AR, Polk County, AR, Prairie County, AR, Pulaski County, AR, Saline County, AR, Scott County, AR, Sebastian County, AR, Sevier County, AR, Union County, AR, White County, AR, Woodruff County, AR, Yell County, AR, Cass County, TX
The radar
The Little Rock radar (KLZK), 83 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:47 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.
Warnings issued inside it
1 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 13, 8:31 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Faulkner | 49 min |
The nearest sounding before it
Shreveport, LA (KSHV), launched 00:00Z, 0.8 hours before the alert went out and 230 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
- 3531 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -1 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1065 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 35 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 9 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 39 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.5
- Supercell composite
- 2.9
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 WWUS9 KMKC 140020 MKC WW 140020 ARZ000-140700- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 425 STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 720 PM CDT FRI JUN 13 1997 THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN ARKANSAS EFFECTIVE THIS FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY MORNING FROM 745 PM UNTIL 200 AM CDT. TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 1/2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS. THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 85 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 60 MILES NORTH NORTHWEST OF TEXARKANA ARKANSAS TO 50 MILES EAST OF PINE BLUFF ARKANSAS. REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS. OTHER WATCH INFORMATION... CONTINUE...WW 419...WW 420...WW 421...WW 422...WW 423...WW 424... DISCUSSION...UPPER VORT AXIS AND SURFACE BOUNDARIES APPROACHING WATCH AREA WHERE CAPES RANGE FROM 2500 TO 4000 J/KG. 40 KT MID LEVEL WESTERLY FLOW INDICATES THREAT OF TORNADOES ALONG WITH DAMAGING DOWNBURSTS AND LARGE HAIL. AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 1/2 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 28035. ...ROGASH ;352,0942 352,0910 325,0910 330,0942;
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 13, 8:15 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Sabine | 6 hr |
| Jun 13, 9:30 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Anderson, Angelina, Cherokee, Collin, Dallas, Denton and 29 more | 6 hr |
| Jun 14, 2:45 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Andrews, Bailey, Borden, Briscoe, Castro, Childress and 37 more | 5 hr |
| Jun 14, 3:15 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Armstrong, Carson, Collingsworth, Dallam, Deaf Smith, Donley and 13 more | 6 hr |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Arkansas, 1997Tornado Watches in Texas, 1997Every tornado watch 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.