Alert archive / Arkansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 12, NWS Tulsa, OK
NWS Tulsa, OK issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Feb 20, 1997, 9:21 PM CST for Carroll County, Arkansas. It was in force for 54 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
- Feb 20, 1997, 9:21 PM CST (03:21 UTC)
- Expired
- Feb 20, 1997, 10:15 PM CST
- In force
- 54 min
- Issued by
- NWS Tulsa, OK
- Area
- Whole counties
County Carroll County, AR
The radar
The Springfield radar (KSGF), 100 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:24 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 20, 9:30 PM CST | Thunderstorm Wind | Eureka Spgs, AR | A cluster of severe thunderstorms moved north northeast across northwest Arkansas during the evening of February 20th and produced considerable wind damage along their path. In Sebastian County, thunderstorm winds estimated at 70 miles an hour in Fort Smith bl |
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.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 20, 6:00 PM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Springfield, MO (KSGF), launched 00:00Z, 3.4 hours before the alert went out and 66 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
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KTUL 210322 RRA SVRTUL ARC015-210415- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK 921 PM CST THU FEB 20 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TULSA HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1015 PM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN NORTHWEST ARKANSAS ...CARROLL COUNTY AT 920 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A CLUSTER OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING FROM NEAR PEA RIDGE...TO CLIFTY...TO HUNTSVILLE. THESE STORMS WERE MOVING TO THE NORTH NORTHEAST AT 45 MILES AN HOUR. THE STRONGEST PORTION OF THESE STORMS WILL MOVE THROUGH THE EUREKA SPRINGS AND BERRYVILLE AREAS. A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THE WARNED AREA. REMEMBER... SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING. REMAIN CALM BUT BE ALERT TO RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS. DAMAGING WINDS WITH GUSTS UP TO 75 MPH MAY OCCUR WITH THIS LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THESE STORMS SEEK SHELTER IMMEDIATELY IN THE LOWEST FLOOR OF YOUR BUILDING OR HOME. STAY AWAY FROM OUTSIDE WALLS AND WINDOWS. IF YOU ARE IN A MOBILE HOME YOU SHOULD MOVE TO A MORE SUBSTANTIAL STRUCTURE IF ONE IS NEARBY.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Tulsa, OK wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Feb 20, 9:04 PM CST, 17 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Feb 20, 9:04 PM CST, 17 minutes before
EASTERN OKLAHOMA/NORTHWEST ARKANSAS FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK 900 PM CST THU FEB 20 1997 NOT MUCH TIME TO WRITE. WL LET PRESENT FCST RIDE AT THIS TIME. MAY MAKE SOME CHANGES LTWDS MIDN...BUT NONE FOR NOW. /11/14 .TUL... OK...FLASH FLOOD WATCH TONIGHT FOR ZONES 054>077. AR...FLASH FLOOD WATCH TONIGHT FOR ZONES 001-002-010-011-019-029.
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Feb 20, 5:15 PM CST, 4 hours 6 minutes before
OKZ054>077-ARZ001-002-010-011-019-029-211200- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK 510 PM CST WED FEB 19 1997 ...WINTER WEATHER TO RETURN TO NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS LATE TONIGHT AND FRIDAY... A STRONG UPPER LEVEL STORM MOVING INTO NORTHERN TEXAS LATE THIS AFTERNOON WILL MOVE NORTHEAST ACROSS EASTERN OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS OVERNIGHT. AT THE SAME TIME...SURFACE LOW PRESSURE WILL STRENGTHEN AS IT MOVES FROM NEAR WICHITA FALLS TEXAS INTO EXTREME SOUTHERN MISSOURI BY FRIDAY MORNING. AS THE SURFACE LOW MOVES INTO MISSOURI...STRONG NORTH TO NORTHWEST WINDS WILL DRAW COLDER AIR SOUTH INTO NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS. RAIN WILL CHANGE TO SNOW TOWARD MORNING IN NORTHWEST OSAGE COUNTY AND OVER THE REST OF NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA AND EXTREME NORTHWEST ARKANSAS BY MIDDAY FRIDAY. SOME SNOW ACCUMULATION IS POSSIBLE FRIDAY TO THE NORTH OF A TULSA TO FAYETTEVILLE LINE WITH THE GREATEST POTENTIAL FOR ACCUMULATING SNOW BEING NEAR THE KANSAS AND MISSOURI BORDERS. TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN ABOVE FREEZING SO MOST OF THE SNOW ACCUMULATION WILL BE ON GRASSY AREAS AND CARS AND ROOFTOPS. UNCERTAINTIES DO EXIST CONCERNING THE TIMING OF THE CHANGEOVER TO SNOW AND THIS MAKES IT DIFFICULT TO DETERMINE POSSIBLE SNOW ACCUMULATIONS AT THIS TIME. THE BEST ESTIMATE IS THAT 1 TO 3 INCHES OF SNOW MAY WHITEN THE GROUND NEAR THE KANSAS AND MISSOURI BORDERS BY FRIDAY EVENING. ANY LINGERING SNOW WILL END EARLY FRIDAY EVENING FOLLOWED BY DECREASING CLOUDINESS. PERSONS PLANNING TRAVEL IN NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA OR EXTREME NORTHWEST ARKANSAS LATE TONIGHT AND FRIDAY SHOULD CHECK THE LATEST CONDITIONS AND FORECASTS BEFORE DEPARTINhG. STAY TUNED TO THIS STATION FOR THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Tulsa, OK issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 20, 7:32 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Sebastian | 43 min |
| 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, 8:47 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Benton | 43 min |
| Feb 20, 8:54 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Madison, Washington | 51 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Arkansas, 1997Every severe thunderstorm warning 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.