Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 48, NWS Jackson, MS

May 9, 1998Ashley County, Arkansas

NWS Jackson, MS issued this tornado warning at May 9, 1998, 8:07 PM CDT for Ashley County, Arkansas. It was in force for 33 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
May 9, 1998, 8:07 PM CDT (01:07 UTC)
Expired
May 9, 1998, 8:40 PM CDT
In force
33 min
Issued by
NWS Jackson, MS
Area
Whole counties

County Ashley County, AR

The radar

The Little Rock radar (KLZK), 189 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:06 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
May 9, 8:36 PM CDTTornado F0Portland, ARThis tornado was sighted by spotters. It touched down briefly and did not produce any damage.

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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 9, 6:00 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Jackson, MS (KJAN), launched 00:00Z, 1.1 hours before the alert went out and 185 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, Jackson, MS at 00:00Z on 1998-05-10Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3361 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Jackson, MS at 00:00Z on 1998-05-10The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 137 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
3361 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
956 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
71 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
137 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
124 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
2.7
Supercell composite
8.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

888 
WFUS1 KJAN 100106 RRA
TORJAN
ARC003-100140-

BULLETIN- EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS
807 PM CDT SAT MAY 9 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN JACKSON HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  ASHLEY COUNTY IN SOUTHEASTERN ARKANSAS

* UNTIL 840 PM CDT

* AT 805 PM CDT... RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO 7 MILES
  NORTHEAST OF CROSSETT OR 4 MILES WEST OF HAMBURG MOVING EAST AT
  35 MPH.

* THE FOLLOWING LOCATION IS IN THE PATH OF THIS DANGEROUS STORM...
  HAMBURG                     BY 810 PM CDT

GO TO THE BASEMENT OR A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR

75

The office that day

Everything else NWS Jackson, MS issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 9, 7:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANAshley47 min
May 9, 8:33 PM CDTTornado WarningJANAshley, Chicot47 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Arkansas, 1998Every tornado warning in 1998Tornadoes in 1998

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.