Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Tulsa, OK

April 20, 1997Benton County, Arkansas

NWS Tulsa, OK issued this tornado warning at Apr 20, 1997, 8:11 PM CDT for Benton County, Arkansas. It was in force for 34 min. 3 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: Apr 20, 1997, 8:11 PM CDT (01:11 UTC)
Expired: Apr 20, 1997, 8:45 PM CDT
In force: 34 min
Issued by: NWS Tulsa, OK
Area: Whole counties

County Benton County, AR

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where
Apr 20, 8:13 PM CDT	Tornado F0	Pea Ridge, AR
Apr 20, 8:15 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Pea Ridge, AR
Apr 20, 8:20 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Pea Ridge, AR

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
Apr 20, 3:45 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Springfield, MO (KSGF), launched 00:00Z, 1.2 hours before the alert went out and 74 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: 320 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -76 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1699 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 48 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 224 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 390 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.2
Supercell composite: 4.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KTUL 210112 RRA
TORTUL
ARC007-210145-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
811 PM CDT SUN APR 20 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TULSA HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  845 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTHWEST ARKANSAS
 
   ...NORTHERN BENTON COUNTY
 
AT 811 PM...SPOTTERS REPORTED A POSSIBLE TORNADO NEAR THE MISSOURI
BORDER...1 MILES NORTH OF PEA RIDGE. THE STORM WAS MOVING TO THE
EAST-SOUTHEAST AT 30 MPH. PEOPLE IN PEA RIDGE...GATEWAY...GARFIELD AND
THE NORTHERN BEAVER LAKE AREA GO TO SAFE SHELTER NOW! THIS STORM
MAY ALSO CONTAIN GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION.  ACT QUICKLY.  IF YOU ARE IN THE
PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF AVAILABLE.
OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR POSSIBLE.
STAY AWAY FROM OUTSIDE WALLS AND AVOID WINDOWS.  ABANDON CARS AND
MOBILE HOMES FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET IN A GROUND DEPRESSION.
 
KEEP TUNED TO THIS STATION FOR THE LATEST WEATHER BULLETINS.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 20, 7:58 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Benton	47 min
Apr 20, 8:31 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TSA	Carroll	29 min
Apr 20, 8:58 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Carroll	47 min
Apr 20, 9:06 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Madison	39 min
Apr 20, 9:45 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Carroll	30 min
Apr 20, 10:13 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Crawford, Sebastian	47 min
Apr 20, 10:20 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Madison	40 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Arkansas, 1997 Every tornado warning in 1997 Tornadoes 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.