Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Little Rock, AR

April 7, 1998Van Buren County, Arkansas

NWS Little Rock, AR issued this tornado warning at Apr 7, 1998, 2:07 AM CDT for Van Buren 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
Apr 7, 1998, 2:07 AM CDT (07:07 UTC)
Expired
Apr 7, 1998, 2:40 AM CDT
In force
33 min
Issued by
NWS Little Rock, AR
Area
Whole counties

County Van Buren County, AR

The radar

The Little Rock radar (KLZK), 86 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 07:08 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
Apr 7, 2:15 AM CDTThunderstorm Wind 52Southside, ARThunderstorm winds knocked down a few trees.

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
Apr 7, 12:30 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Springfield, MO (KSGF), launched 00:00Z, 7.1 hours before the alert went out and 186 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 00:00Z on 1998-04-07Temperature 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 00:00Z on 1998-04-07The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 133 square meters per square second.1939587897117136Sfc1 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
2213 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
55 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
133 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
221 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.

000 
TTAA00 KLIT 070707 RRA
TORLIT
ARC141-070740-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
207 AM CDT TUE APR 7 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LITTLE ROCK AR HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 240 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN NORTH CENTRAL ARKANSAS

   ...EASTERN VAN BUREN COUNTY
 
AT 205 AM CDT...A POSSIBLE TORNADO WAS DETECTED BY DOPPLER RADAR 5
MILES SOUTHEAST OF CLINTON MOVING EAST AT 50 MPH.

LOCATIONS IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO INCLUDE...
MORGANTON                    AROUND 205 AM CDT  ...

IF YOU ARE AT HOME AND IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT. IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR
ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET. AS A LAST RESORT...LAY IN A BATHTUB. COVER YOUR
BODY WITH A MATTRESS...PILLOWS OR CUSHIONS. THOSE IN MOBILE HOMES
SHOULD MOVE TO A STRONG BUILDING OR UNDERGROUND SHELTER. IF YOU ARE
OUTDOORS...AND NO BUILDINGS ARE AVAILABLE...LAY IN A DITCH OR CULVERT
TO AVOID FLYING DEBRIS. BUT BEWARE OF RISING WATER.

45/28

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, Apr 6, 10:14 PM CDT, 3 hours 53 minutes before
ARZ037-040-070715-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
1014 PM CDT MON APR 6 1998
...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH UNTIL 4 AM CDT FOR SMALL PART OF WEST
ARKANSAS...

A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE INTO WEST AND NORTHWEST
ARKANSAS DURING THE NEXT FEW HOURS. SOME OF THESE ARE CAPABLE OF
PRODUCING STRONG WINDS AND SOME HAIL. SOME OF THE COUNTIES INCLUDED IN
ARKANSAS ARE POLK AND SCOTT.

THE AREA OF DISTURBED WEATHER WILL QUICKLY MOVE OUT OF ARKANSAS LATER
TONIGHT AND EARLY TUESDAY.

16
Special weather statement, Apr 7, 12:27 AM CDT, 1 hour 40 minutes before
ARZ003>007-012>016-021>024-030>033-038-039-041>046-054>056-070930-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
1227 AM CDT TUE APR 7 1998

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IN CENTRAL...WEST AND NORTH ARKANSAS UNTIL
6AM...

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 AM CDT FOR MUCH OF
CENTRAL...WEST AND NORTH ARKANSAS. A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL
MOVE THROUGH THE AFFECTED AREA...SOME OF WHICH COULD CONTAIN STRONG AND
DAMAGING WINDS AND HAIL.

THE STORMY WEATHER WILL DECREASE LATER TONIGHT.

16
Special weather statement, Apr 7, 12:27 AM CDT, 1 hour 40 minutes before
ARZ003>007-012>016-021>024-030>033-038-039-041>046-054>056-070930-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
1227 AM CDT TUE APR 7 1998

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IN CENTRAL...WEST AND NORTH ARKANSAS UNTIL
6AM...

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 AM CDT FOR MUCH OF
CENTRAL...WEST AND NORTH ARKANSAS. A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL
MOVE THROUGH THE AFFECTED AREA...SOME OF WHICH COULD CONTAIN STRONG AND
DAMAGING WINDS AND HAIL.

THE STORMY WEATHER WILL DECREASE LATER TONIGHT.

16

The office that day

Everything else NWS Little Rock, AR issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 7, 12:35 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKJohnson60 min
Apr 7, 1:25 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKPope50 min
Apr 7, 1:27 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKScott63 min
Apr 7, 1:36 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKConway, Van Buren64 min
Apr 7, 2:22 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKYell33 min
Apr 7, 2:31 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKCleburne64 min
Apr 7, 2:34 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKFaulkner31 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.