Alert archive / Arkansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 261, NWS Memphis, TN

June 5, 1998Greene County, Arkansas

NWS Memphis, TN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 5, 1998, 12:58 AM CDT for Greene County, Arkansas. It was in force for 32 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jun 5, 1998, 12:58 AM CDT (05:58 UTC)
Expired
Jun 5, 1998, 1:30 AM CDT
In force
32 min
Issued by
NWS Memphis, TN
Area
Whole counties

County Greene County, AR

The radar

The Memphis radar (KNQA), 106 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 06:02 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.

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Jun 4, 11:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 00:00Z, 6.0 hours before the alert went out and 153 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, Little Rock, AR at 00:00Z on 1998-06-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2737 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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, Little Rock, AR at 00:00Z on 1998-06-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 25 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
2737 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-6 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1197 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
25 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
98 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.5
Supercell composite
4.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

530 
WUUS1 KMEM 050557 RRA
SVRMEM
ARC055-050630-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
1258 AM CDT FRI JUN 5 1998


THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  GREENE COUNTY IN NORTHEAST ARKANSAS

* UNTIL 130 AM CDT

* AT 1256 AM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
  WITH DAMAGING WINDS NEAR FONTAINE IN SOUTHWEST GREENE COUNTY
  MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  WALCOTT BY 105 AM CDT
  PARAGOULD BY 115 AM CDT
  MARMADUKE BY 125 AM CDT

.WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A
STRONG BUILDING. DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS. DO NOT USE TELEPHONES OR
ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL THE STORM HAS
PASSED. MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE INTO LOW WATER CROSSINGS.

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.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jun 4, 9:30 PM CDT, 3 hours 28 minutes before
ARZ008-009-017-018-026>028-035-036-048-049-058-MOZ113-115-MSZ001>017-
020>024-030-031-TNZ001>004-019>021-048>054-088>092-050930-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
930 PM CDT THU JUN 4 1998

THIS OUTLOOK COVERS THE COUNTY WARNING AREA OF THE NATIONAL WEATHER
SERVICE FORECAST OFFICE IN MEMPHIS TENNESSEE...INCLUDING WEST
TENNESSEE.. NORTH MISSISSIPPI.. EAST ARKANSAS AND THE MISSOURI
BOOTHEEL.

THERE IS SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TONIGHT OVER THE ENTIRE
COUNTY WARNING AREA.

A STATIONARY FRONT EXTENDED FROM NORTHERN ARKANSAS EASTWARD THROUGH
TENNESSEE INTO WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA THURSDAY EVENING. VERY WARM AND
HUMID AIR WAS IN PLACE OVER THE AREA AND THIS COMBINED WITH THE FRONT
HAS CAUSED MORE THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL
INTENSIFY AND COULD BECOME SEVERE OVERNIGHT AS AN UPPER LEVEL
DISTURBANCE APPROACHES THE AREA FROM THE WEST.

THE MAIN THREAT FROM THESE STORMS WILL BE LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING
STRAIGHT LINE WINDS. IN ADDITION.. STORMS WILL MOVE SLOWLY AND MAY
PRODUCE LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL.

STORM SPOTTER GROUPS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL SHOULD BE
PREPARED FOR POSSIBLE ACTIVATION OVERNIGHT. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER
RADIO...COMMERCIAL TELEVISION OR RADIO STATIONS...OR YOUR CABLE
TELEVISION PROVIDER FOR LATER STATEMENTS.
Special weather statement, Jun 4, 9:30 PM CDT, 3 hours 28 minutes before
ARZ008-009-017-018-026>028-035-036-048-049-058-MOZ113-115-MSZ001>017-
020>024-030-031-TNZ001>004-019>021-048>054-088>092-050930-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
930 PM CDT THU JUN 4 1998

THIS OUTLOOK COVERS THE COUNTY WARNING AREA OF THE NATIONAL WEATHER
SERVICE FORECAST OFFICE IN MEMPHIS TENNESSEE...INCLUDING WEST
TENNESSEE.. NORTH MISSISSIPPI.. EAST ARKANSAS AND THE MISSOURI
BOOTHEEL.

THERE IS SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TONIGHT OVER THE ENTIRE
COUNTY WARNING AREA.

A STATIONARY FRONT EXTENDED FROM NORTHERN ARKANSAS EASTWARD THROUGH
TENNESSEE INTO WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA THURSDAY EVENING. VERY WARM AND
HUMID AIR WAS IN PLACE OVER THE AREA AND THIS COMBINED WITH THE FRONT
HAS CAUSED MORE THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL
INTENSIFY AND COULD BECOME SEVERE OVERNIGHT AS AN UPPER LEVEL
DISTURBANCE APPROACHES THE AREA FROM THE WEST.

THE MAIN THREAT FROM THESE STORMS WILL BE LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING
STRAIGHT LINE WINDS. IN ADDITION.. STORMS WILL MOVE SLOWLY AND MAY
PRODUCE LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL.

STORM SPOTTER GROUPS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL SHOULD BE
PREPARED FOR POSSIBLE ACTIVATION OVERNIGHT. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER
RADIO...COMMERCIAL TELEVISION OR RADIO STATIONS...OR YOUR CABLE
TELEVISION PROVIDER FOR LATER STATEMENTS.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Memphis, TN issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 4, 11:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGPoinsett32 min
Jun 5, 12:44 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGCraighead, Poinsett46 min
Jun 5, 1:02 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGCross43 min
Jun 5, 1:17 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGLee, St. Francis48 min
Jun 5, 1:24 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGPhillips46 min
Jun 5, 1:30 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGMississippi35 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Arkansas, 1998Every severe thunderstorm warning 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.