Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 21, NWS Memphis, TN

April 16, 1998Mississippi County, Arkansas

NWS Memphis, TN issued this tornado warning at Apr 16, 1998, 2:42 AM CDT for Mississippi County, Arkansas. It was in force for 33 min. 2 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 16, 1998, 2:42 AM CDT (07:42 UTC)
Expired: Apr 16, 1998, 3:15 AM CDT
In force: 33 min
Issued by: NWS Memphis, TN
Area: Whole counties

County Mississippi County, AR

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Apr 16, 2:50 AM CDT	Tornado F4	Manila, AR	The tornado began just west of Manila and tracked northeast. The tornado demolished or heavily damaged several homes including some mobile homes. Two children were killed in one of these mobile homes. The tornado continued northeast flattening a discount depar
Apr 16, 3:25 AM CDT	Tornado F1	Blytheville, AR	The tornado touched down in the south central part of Blytheville. The main damage was contained in a two-block section. A 60-ton air conditioner until located on the roof of a supermarket was moved. Many large trees were toppled and several residences sustain

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 16, 12:00 AM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 00:00Z, 7.7 hours before the alert went out and 104 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: 1219 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 868 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 54 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 100 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 136 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.7
Supercell composite: 2.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMEM 160742 RRA
TORMEM
ARC093-160815-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
242 AM CDT THU APR 16 1998


THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHERN MISSISSIPPI COUNTY IN NORTHEASTERN ARKANSAS

* UNTIL 315 AM CDT

* AT 241 AM CDT... DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 5 MILES SOUTH
OF LEACHVILLE. THIS STORM IS MOVING EAST AT 45 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR MANILA BY 250 BLYTHEVILLE BY
300 AM....

.IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT. GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO
BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SAFETY IN AN INTERIOR ROOM SUCH AS A
CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...OR CUSHIONS TO
COVER YOUR BODY. AVOID WINDOWS.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 15, 11:55 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Randolph	50 min
Apr 16, 12:03 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Lawrence	47 min
Apr 16, 2:16 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	MEG	Greene	29 min
Apr 16, 2:36 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Craighead, Mississippi	49 min
Apr 16, 3:15 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	MEG	Mississippi	20 min
Apr 16, 6:19 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Randolph	36 min
Apr 16, 7:00 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Clay	35 min
Apr 16, 9:19 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	St. Francis	46 min
Apr 16, 9:56 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Crittenden	34 min
Apr 16, 11:05 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	MEG	Poinsett	50 min

Nearby

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