Alert archive / Arkansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 305, NWS Tulsa, OK

August 14, 1997Carroll County, Arkansas

NWS Tulsa, OK issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 14, 1997, 4:28 PM CDT for Carroll County, Arkansas. It was in force for 47 min. 2 reports 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
Aug 14, 1997, 4:28 PM CDT (21:28 UTC)
Expired
Aug 14, 1997, 5:15 PM CDT
In force
47 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 21:31 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
Aug 14, 4:50 PM CDTHail 1.75Metalton, AR
Aug 14, 5:10 PM CDTHail 0.75Rudd, ARIsolated severe thunderstorms developed in extreme northwest Arkansas during the afternoon of August 14th and produced golfball size hail 3 miles north of Metalton, nickel size hail at Clifty, and dime size hail at Rudd.

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 nearest sounding before it

Springfield, MO (KSGF), launched 12:00Z, 9.5 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.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Springfield, MO at 12:00Z on 1997-08-14Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Springfield, MO at 12:00Z on 1997-08-14The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 164 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1052 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
164 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
168 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

391 
WUUS1 KTUL 142129
SVRTUL
ARC015-142215-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
428 PM CDT THU AUG 14 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TULSA HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  515 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTHWEST ARKANSAS
 
   ...EASTERN CARROLL COUNTY
 
AT 425 PM...RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 8 MILES SOUTHWEST OF
BERRYVILLE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH. PERSONS LIVING BETWEEN BERRYVILLE
AND METALTON AS WELL AS PERSONS IN RULE AND GREEN FOREST ARE IN THE PATH
OF THIS STORM. THIS IS THE SAME STORM WHICH PROMPTED THE WARNING FOR
NORTHERN MADISON COUNTY.
 
HAIL TO THE SIZE OF GOLFBALLS AND WIND GUSTS TO 60 MPH CAN BE EXPECTED
IN THE WARNED AREA.
 
KEEP TUNED TO THIS STATION FOR THE LATEST WEATHER BULLETINS.

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 Aug 14, 3:45 PM CDT, 43 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 14, 3:45 PM CDT, 43 minutes before
FPUS3 KTUL 142045
AFDTUL

EASTERN OKLAHOMA/NORTHWEST ARKANSAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
345 PM CDT THU AUG 14 1997

TWO CONSTANTS UNTIL THE EXTENDED PART OF THE FORECAST ARE THAT THERE
WILL BE AN UPPER TROUGH OVER THE UPPER MIDWEST AND A SURFACE TROUGH
SOMEWHERE IN THE PLAINS.  THE SOUTHERN EXTENT OF THE FORMER MAY
RESULT IN A SERIES OF SHORTWAVES MOVING NEAR OR OVER THE AREA.  THE
LATTER WILL RESULT IN STRONG WINDS.

HAVE KEPT THUNDERSTORM CHANCES TO A MINIMUM AS TIMING AND PLACEMENT
OF SHORTWAVES...AND THE EXTENT OF ANY CAP ARE IN QUESTION. ONE THING
NOT IN QUESTION WILL BE INSTABILITY.  ETA GRIDDED DATA SHOWS CONSTANT
-6 BEST LIFTED INDEXES ALIGNED ALONG SURFACE TROUGH WHILE THE NGM
SHOWS K INDEXES IN THE LOWER TO MID 30S IN A SIMILAR AREA. HAVE SEEN
SOME ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS POP UP THIS AFTERNOON AND
COULD SEE THEM ALMOST ANYWHERE INTO THE EVENING HOURS.  FOR LATER
TONIGHT INTO TOMORROW MORNING COULD SEE THE SOUTHERN TIP OF A
SHORTWAVE MOVING THROUGH THE CENTRAL PLAINS KICK SOMETHING OFF.
HOWEVER...THINK CURRENT DAY 1 SEVERE OUTLOOK IS OVERDONE.  LATER
TOMORROW AND TOMORROW NIGHT EITHER A SHEARED OFF PIECE OF TONIGHTS
CENTRAL PLAINS SHORTWAVE OR A NEW SHORTWAVE IS PROGGED BY BOTH THE
NGM AND THE ETA TO BE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD.  AVN AND LAST NIGHTS MRF
SHOW A RIPPLE IN THE AREA LATE SATURDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHT.

TEMPERATURE WISE HAVE GONE NEAR OR A LITTLE BELOW GUIDANCE FOR
TONIGHT AS THINK SURFACE WINDS WILL SLACK OFF A BIT.  HAVE GONE NEAR
OR A LITTLE WARMER THAN TONIGHT TOMORROW NIGHT AS PRESSURE GRADIENT
TIGHTENS.  WITH A SOUTHWEST COMPONENT TO THE SURFACE WINDS SHOULD SEE
A GOOD WARMUP EACH DAY AND HAVE GONE NEAR OR ABOVE GUIDANCE FOR
HIGHS.

FCSTID = 17
TUL   75  93  75  93 /  20  20  20  20
FSM   72  95  74  95 /  20  20  20  20
MLC   75  95  75  95 /  20  20  20  20
BVO   73  93  75  93 /  20  20  20  20
FYV   70  91  73  92 /  20  20  20  20
IDB   73  95  73  95 /  20  20  20  20
BYV   69  90  72  91 /  20  20  20  20
MIO   73  90  74  93 /  20  20  20  20
MKO   74  93  75  94 /  20  20  20  20
F10   74  94  74  94 /  20  20  20  20

.TUL...
OK...NONE.
AR...NONE.

ABBAS

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Aug 14, 1:00 PM CDT, 3 hours 28 minutes before
ARZ001-002-010-011-019-029-OKZ054>076-151200-

EASTERN OKLAHOMA/NORTHWEST ARKANSAS THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
100 PM CDT THU AUG 14 1997

NO THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED ACROSS EASTERN OKLAHOMA OR NORTHWEST
ARKANSAS THROUGH TONIGHT.

A WARM FRONT...WHICH BROUGHT SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO
PARTS OF THE AREA AS IT MOVED NORTH OVERNIGHT AND THIS MORNING...
HAS LOST ITS IDENTITY THIS AFTERNOON.  THE AIR MASS OVER THE AREA
THIS AFTERNOON IS FAIRLY WARM AND HUMID...AND THUS IS MODERATELY
UNSTABLE.  HOWEVER...DUE TO THE COMBINATION OF SUBSIDING AIR IN THE
WAKE OF THE STORMS...A LAYER OF WARM AIR IN THE MID-LEVELS OF THE
ATMOSPHERE DEVELOPING ACROSS THE REGION AND THE LACK OF ANY NEARBY
SURFACE BOUNDARIES...NO THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED THROUGH TONIGHT
ACROSS EASTERN OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS.
Special weather statement, Aug 14, 1:15 PM CDT, 3 hours 13 minutes before
ARZ001-002-010-011-019-029-OKZ054>076-151200-

EASTERN OKLAHOMA/NORTHWEST ARKANSAS THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
100 PM CDT THU AUG 14 1997

NO THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED ACROSS EASTERN OKLAHOMA OR NORTHWEST
ARKANSAS THROUGH TONIGHT.

A WARM FRONT...WHICH BROUGHT SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO
PARTS OF THE AREA AS IT MOVED NORTH OVERNIGHT AND THIS MORNING...
HAS LOST ITS IDENTITY THIS AFTERNOON.  THE AIR MASS OVER THE AREA
THIS AFTERNOON IS FAIRLY WARM AND HUMID...AND THUS IS MODERATELY
UNSTABLE.  HOWEVER...DUE TO THE COMBINATION OF SUBSIDING AIR IN THE
WAKE OF THE STORMS...A LAYER OF WARM AIR IN THE MID-LEVELS OF THE
ATMOSPHERE DEVELOPING ACROSS THE REGION AND THE LACK OF ANY NEARBY
SURFACE BOUNDARIES...NO THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED THROUGH TONIGHT
ACROSS EASTERN OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Tulsa, OK issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 14, 3:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSACrawford30 min
Aug 14, 4:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAMadison27 min
Aug 14, 4:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAMadison29 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.