Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Warnings in 1998
Tornado Warning 28, NWS Little Rock, AR
NWS Little Rock, AR issued this tornado warning at May 9, 1998, 6:33 PM CDT for Ouachita County, Arkansas. It was in force for 47 min. 4 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
- May 9, 1998, 6:33 PM CDT (23:33 UTC)
- Expired
- May 9, 1998, 7:20 PM CDT
- In force
- 47 min
- Issued by
- NWS Little Rock, AR
- Area
- Whole counties
County Ouachita County, AR
The radar
The Little Rock radar (KLZK), 150 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:34 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 9, 6:34 PM CDT | Hail 1 | Harmony Grove, AR | |
| May 9, 6:35 PM CDT | Tornado F0 | Harmony Grove, AR | An F0 tornado touched down about 1.5 miles west northwest of Harmony Grove. The tornado travelled to the east northeast for about 3.5 miles before lifting. Damage along the path of the tornado consisted of a number of trees and power lines being blown down. |
| May 9, 6:37 PM CDT | Hail 1.75 | Harmony Grove, AR | |
| May 9, 6:43 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 50 | Harmony Grove, AR | Thunderstorm winds blew a tree onto a house and blew the roof off a trailer. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 9, 6:00 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 5 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Shreveport, LA (KSHV), launched 12:00Z, 11.6 hours before the alert went out and 148 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
- 620 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -266 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 677 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 81 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 127 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 149 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.6
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
426 WFUS1 KLIT 092333 RRA TORLIT ARC103-100020- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 633 PM CDT SAT MAY 9 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LITTLE ROCK HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... EASTERN OUACHITA COUNTY IN SOUTHWESTERN ARKANSAS * UNTIL 720 PM CDT * AT 631 PM CDT... DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO IN THE VICINITY OF CAMDEN MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH. * LOCATIONS IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO INCLUDE... WARNER AROUND 635 PM CDT... HARMONY GROVE AROUND 640 PM CDT... EAST CAMDEN AROUND 645 PM CDT... EAGLE MILLS AROUND 645 PM CDT... MILLVILLE AROUND 650 PM CDT... A DOPPLER RADAR DETECTED TORNADO MEANS THAT THERE IS STRONG ROTATION WITHIN A STORM. THE STORM MAY NOT BE PRODUCING A TORNADO AT THE MOMENT...BUT IS EXPECTED TO DURING THE WARNING PERIOD. FOR YOUR SAFETY...GO INDOORS NOW TO AN INTERIOR ROOM AWAY FROM WINDOWS. 25/22
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this tornado warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
In the hours before
Special weather statement, May 9, 5:56 PM CDT, 37 minutes before
ARZ003>008-012>017-021>025-030>034-037>047-050>057-059>075-100130- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 556 PM CDT SAT MAY 9 1998 ...TORNADO WATCH UNTIL 11 PM FOR MOST OF ARKANSAS... THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH FOR MOST OF ARKANSAS EFFECTIVE UNTIL 11 PM TONIGHT. THE WATCH AREA IS GENERALLY WEST OF A LINE FROM POCAHONTAS TO WEST HELENA AND EAST OF A LINE FROM HARRISON TO WALDRON. SOME LARGER CITIES IN THE WATCH INCLUDE...LITTLE ROCK...HARRISON...TEXARKANA...EL DORADO...PINE BLUFF...MOUNTAIN HOME...AND HOT SPRINGS. A STRONG UPPER LEVEL LOW AND A SURFACE WARM FRONT WILL BE MOVING ACROSS ARKANSAS TONIGHT. WARM AND VERY MOIST AIR HAS BEEN PUSHED NORTH INTO THE STATE DURING THE DAY AND THIS WILL PROVIDE THE FUEL FOR THE CONTINUED DEVELOPMENT OF THUNDERSTORMS TONIGHT. THE WINDS IN THE ATMOSPHERE ARE VERY FAVORABLE FOR TORNADO DEVELOPMENT...MAKING THIS A DANGEROUS SITUATION. SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND TORNADO WARNINGS HAVE ALREADY BEEN ISSUED THIS EVENING. GOLFBALL SIZE HAIL WAS REPORTED AT MURFEESBORO AROUND 515 PM. IF THUNDERSTORMS THREATEN YOUR AREA TONIGHT...REMAIN CALM AND SEEK SHELTER INDOORS...AWAY FROM WINDOWS. KEEP CLOSE TABS ON THE WEATHER BY TUNING TO YOUR LOCAL MEDIA OR CABLE T.V. OUTLET FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND WARNINGS.
Local storm report, May 9, 5:56 PM CDT, 37 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
453 PM EDIT SAT MAY 9 1998
TIME(EDIT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
550 PM OKOLONA AR 0.75 INCH HAIL
5/9/98 CLARK REPORTED BY COUNTY SHERIFF
16Local storm report, May 9, 6:18 PM CDT, 15 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
618 PM CDT SAT MAY 9 1998
TIME(EDIT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
535 PM 4 SW MARSHALL AR 1.75 INCH HAIL
5/9/98 SEARCY REPORTED BY HAM RADIO.
535 PM 4 SW MARSHALL AR 67 MPH TSTM GUST
5/9/98 SEARCY REPORTED BY HAMS
535 PM 4 SW MARSHALL AR WIND DAMAGE
5/9/98 SEARCY 18-INCH TREE DOWN ON
HWY 27
16Local storm report, May 9, 6:18 PM CDT, 15 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
618 PM CDT SAT MAY 9 1998
TIME(EDIT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
535 PM 4 SW MARSHALL AR 1.75 INCH HAIL
5/9/98 SEARCY REPORTED BY HAM RADIO.
535 PM 4 SW MARSHALL AR 67 MPH TSTM GUST
5/9/98 SEARCY REPORTED BY HAMS
535 PM 4 SW MARSHALL AR WIND DAMAGE
5/9/98 SEARCY 18-INCH TREE DOWN ON
HWY 27
16Local storm report, May 9, 6:33 PM CDT, 0 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
633 PM CDT SAT MAY 9 1998
TIME(EDIT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
625 PM 4 E BISMARCK AR 1.75 INCH HAIL
5/9/98 HOT SPRING CARS DAMAGED
REPORTED BY WAYNES
GROCERY IN BISMARCK
634 PM HARMONY GROVE AR 1.00 INCH HAIL
5/9/98 OUACHITA BY COUNTY SHERIFF
16Local storm report, May 9, 6:33 PM CDT, 0 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
633 PM CDT SAT MAY 9 1998
TIME(EDIT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
625 PM 4 E BISMARCK AR 1.75 INCH HAIL
5/9/98 HOT SPRING CARS DAMAGED
REPORTED BY WAYNES
GROCERY IN BISMARCK
634 PM HARMONY GROVE AR 1.00 INCH HAIL
5/9/98 OUACHITA BY COUNTY SHERIFF
16The office that day
Everything else NWS Little Rock, AR issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 9, 9:11 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Boone | 49 min |
| May 9, 9:23 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Marion | 52 min |
| May 9, 9:47 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Baxter | 28 min |
| May 9, 1:36 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Boone | 34 min |
| May 9, 1:43 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Johnson, Logan | 47 min |
| May 9, 2:20 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Newton | 50 min |
| May 9, 2:23 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Pope | 32 min |
| May 9, 2:37 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Boone | 48 min |
| May 9, 2:55 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Baxter | 35 min |
| May 9, 4:16 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Fulton, Izard | 49 min |
| May 9, 4:58 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Pike | 47 min |
| May 9, 4:59 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Scott | 61 min |
| May 9, 5:05 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Fulton, Izard, Sharp | 50 min |
| May 9, 5:21 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | LZK | Scott | 64 min |
| May 9, 5:28 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Searcy | 47 min |
| May 9, 5:39 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Clark | 66 min |
| May 9, 5:59 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Stone | 66 min |
| May 9, 6:08 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Ouachita | 62 min |
| May 9, 6:13 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | LZK | Clark | 47 min |
| May 9, 6:18 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | LZK | Hot Spring | 62 min |
| May 9, 6:26 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Garland, Montgomery | 64 min |
| May 9, 6:44 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Calhoun | 66 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.