Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Watches in 1997

Tornado Watch 53

February 20, 19974 states

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Feb 20, 1997, 11:00 PM CST for 4 states. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Feb 20, 1997, 11:00 PM CST (05:00 UTC)
Expired: Feb 21, 1997, 5:00 AM CST
In force: 6 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 65 counties

Arkansas County, AR, Ashley County, AR, Bradley County, AR, Chicot County, AR, Clay County, AR, Cleburne County, AR, Craighead County, AR, Crittenden County, AR, Cross County, AR, Desha County, AR, Drew County, AR, Fulton County, AR, Greene County, AR, Independence County, AR, Izard County, AR, Jackson County, AR, Jefferson County, AR, Lawrence County, AR, Lee County, AR, Lincoln County, AR, Lonoke County, AR, Mississippi County, AR, Monroe County, AR, Phillips County, AR, Poinsett County, AR, Prairie County, AR, Randolph County, AR, Sharp County, AR, St. Francis County, AR, Stone County, AR, White County, AR, Woodruff County, AR, Dunklin County, MO, Pemiscot County, MO, Benton County, MS, Bolivar County, MS, Calhoun County, MS, Carroll County, MS, Choctaw County, MS, Coahoma County, MS, DeSoto County, MS, Grenada County, MS, Lafayette County, MS, Leflore County, MS, Marshall County, MS, Montgomery County, MS, Panola County, MS, Pontotoc County, MS, Quitman County, MS, Sunflower County, MS, Tallahatchie County, MS, Tate County, MS, Tunica County, MS, Washington County, MS, Webster County, MS, Yalobusha County, MS, Crockett County, TN, Dyer County, TN, Fayette County, TN, Haywood County, TN, Lake County, TN, Lauderdale County, TN, Obion County, TN, Shelby County, TN, Tipton County, TN

The radar

The Memphis radar (KNQA), 46 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 05:04 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

8 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Feb 20, 11:09 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAN	Ashley	51 min
Feb 20, 11:50 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Lawrence, Randolph	45 min
Feb 21, 12:33 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Lee	47 min
Feb 21, 1:06 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Poinsett	29 min
Feb 21, 2:05 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAN	Sunflower	40 min
Feb 21, 3:21 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAN	Carroll	54 min
Feb 21, 3:55 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAN	Attala, Leake, Montgomery	65 min
Feb 21, 4:14 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAN	Choctaw, Webster	46 min

The nearest sounding before it

Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 00:00Z, 5.0 hours before the alert went out and 43 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 412 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 639 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 65 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 324 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 424 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.7
Supercell composite: 3.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

406 
WWUS9 KMKC 210434 COR
SEL3  
MKC WW 210434 COR
ARZ000-TNZ000-MSZ000-MOZ000-211100-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 53
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1034 PM CST THU FEB 20 1997

A...THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR

PARTS OF EASTERN ARKANSAS
PARTS OF WESTERN TENNESSEE
PARTS OF NORTHERN MISSISSIPPI
THE BOOTHEEL OF MISSOURI

EFFECTIVE THIS THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY MORNING UNTIL 500 AM CST.

TORNADOES...LARGE HAIL...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND DAMAGING
THUNDERSTORM WINDS ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.


THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 90 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 25 MILES NORTHEAST OF WALNUT RIDGE ARKANSAS TO 30
MILES SOUTHEAST OF GREENVILLE MISSISSIPPI.

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.

B..OTHER WATCH INFORMATION.. THIS TORNADO WATCH REPLACES TORNADO
WATCH NUMBER 51.  WATCH NUMBER 51 WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER 1100
PM CST.
$$

C...TORNADOES AND A FEW SVR TSTMS WITH HAIL SFC AND ALF TO 1
INCHES.  EXTRM TURBC AND SFC WIND GUSTS TO 80 KNOTS.  A FEW CBS
WITH MAX TOPS TO 420.  MEAN WIND VECTOR 20050.

D...LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS...WITH A HISTORY OF WIDESPREAD WIND
DAMAGE...MOVING INTO WATCH AREA AHEAD OF STRONG UPPER VORT AXIS. 70
TO 80 KT FLOW BELOW 6000 FT AGL...COMBINED WITH DRY AIR ALOFT...
INDICATES POTENTIAL FOR WIDESPREAD DAMAGING DOWNBURSTS AND ISOLATED
TORNADOES.

E...OTR TSTMS... THIS WATCH REPLACES..WW 51.. CONT..WW 52..

...ROGASH

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Feb 20, 6:00 PM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	Ashley, Baxter, Benton, Boone, Bradley, Calhoun and 48 more	6 hr
Feb 20, 11:45 PM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	Ashley	5 hr
Feb 21, 4:45 AM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	Clarke, Covington, Forrest, Greene, Jasper, Jefferson Davis and 13 more	6 hr
Feb 21, 4:45 AM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	Alcorn, Chickasaw, Clay, Itawamba, Lee, Lowndes and 6 more	6 hr
Feb 21, 7:00 AM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	Anderson, Bedford, Bledsoe, Bradley, Campbell, Cannon and 40 more	5 hr
Feb 21, 10:15 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Anderson, Blount, Campbell, Claiborne, Cocke, Grainger and 13 more	4 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Arkansas, 1997 Tornado Watches in Mississippi, 1997 Tornado Watches in Tennessee, 1997 Every 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.