Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Watches in 1997
Tornado Watch 51
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Feb 20, 1997, 6:00 PM CST for 54 counties in Arkansas; Cass County, Texas. It was in force for 6 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Feb 20, 1997, 6:00 PM CST (00:00 UTC)
- Expired
- Feb 21, 1997, 12:00 AM CST
- In force
- 6 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 55 counties
Ashley County, AR, Baxter County, AR, Benton County, AR, Boone County, AR, Bradley County, AR, Calhoun County, AR, Carroll County, AR, Clark County, AR, Cleburne County, AR, Cleveland County, AR, Columbia County, AR, Conway County, AR, Crawford County, AR, Dallas County, AR, Drew County, AR, Faulkner County, AR, Franklin County, AR, Fulton County, AR, Garland County, AR, Grant County, AR, Hempstead County, AR, Hot Spring County, AR, Howard County, AR, Izard County, AR, Jefferson County, AR, Johnson County, AR, Lafayette County, AR, Lincoln County, AR, Little River County, AR, Logan County, AR, Lonoke County, AR, Madison County, AR, Marion County, AR, Miller County, AR, Montgomery County, AR, Nevada County, AR, Newton County, AR, Ouachita County, AR, Perry County, AR, Pike County, AR, Polk County, AR, Pope County, AR, Pulaski County, AR, Saline County, AR, Scott County, AR, Searcy County, AR, Sebastian County, AR, Sevier County, AR, Stone County, AR, Union County, AR, Van Buren County, AR, Washington County, AR, White County, AR, Yell County, AR, Cass County, TX
The radar
The Little Rock radar (KLZK), 53 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:00 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
25 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 20, 6:04 PM CST | Flash Flood Warning | SHV | Cass, Harrison, Marion | 4 hr |
| Feb 20, 6:15 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | SHV | Cass, Harrison, Marion | 60 min |
| Feb 20, 7:07 PM CST | Flash Flood Warning | SHV | Howard, Little River, Sevier | 4 hr |
| Feb 20, 7:32 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Sebastian | 43 min |
| Feb 20, 7:33 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | SHV | Miller | 42 min |
| Feb 20, 7:46 PM CST | Flash Flood Warning | LZK | Polk | 3 hr |
| Feb 20, 8:08 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Crawford | 52 min |
| Feb 20, 8:16 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Washington | 44 min |
| Feb 20, 8:31 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Logan | 64 min |
| Feb 20, 8:34 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Franklin | 66 min |
| Feb 20, 8:44 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | SHV | Columbia | 61 min |
| Feb 20, 8:47 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Benton | 43 min |
| Feb 20, 8:48 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Johnson | 52 min |
| Feb 20, 8:51 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Yell | 49 min |
| Feb 20, 8:54 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Madison, Washington | 51 min |
| Feb 20, 9:03 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Garland, Hot Spring | 47 min |
| Feb 20, 9:21 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Carroll | 54 min |
| Feb 20, 9:36 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Dallas | 64 min |
| Feb 20, 9:45 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | SHV | Columbia, Union | 45 min |
| Feb 20, 10:00 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Conway | 35 min |
| Feb 20, 10:03 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Faulkner | 62 min |
| Feb 20, 10:09 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Pulaski | 61 min |
| Feb 20, 10:12 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | SHV | Union | 63 min |
| Feb 20, 10:45 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Cleburne | 65 min |
| Feb 20, 11:09 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Ashley | 51 min |
The nearest sounding before it
Springfield, MO (KSGF), launched 00:00Z, 0.0 hours before the alert went out and 221 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
- 267 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -14 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 593 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 45 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 221 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 270 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.3
- Supercell composite
- 1.6
The text
The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 20, 11:00 PM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Arkansas, Ashley, Bradley, Chicot, Clay, Cleburne and 26 more | 6 hr |
| Feb 20, 11:45 PM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Ashley | 5 hr |
| Feb 20, 7:30 PM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Newton, Sabine | 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.