Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Watches in 1998

Tornado Watch 445

May 27, 19984 states

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 27, 1998, 2:30 PM CDT for 4 states. It was in force for 7 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: May 27, 1998, 2:30 PM CDT (19:30 UTC)
Expired: May 27, 1998, 9:00 PM CDT
In force: 7 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 33 counties

Clark County, AR, Columbia County, AR, Dallas County, AR, Grant County, AR, Hempstead County, AR, Hot Spring County, AR, Howard County, AR, Lafayette County, AR, Little River County, AR, Miller County, AR, Nevada County, AR, Ouachita County, AR, Pike County, AR, Polk County, AR, Sevier County, AR, Bossier Parish, LA, Caddo Parish, LA, Claiborne Parish, LA, Red River Parish, LA, Webster Parish, LA, McCurtain County, OK, Bowie County, TX, Camp County, TX, Cass County, TX, Gregg County, TX, Harrison County, TX, Marion County, TX, Morris County, TX, Panola County, TX, Rusk County, TX, Smith County, TX, Titus County, TX, Upshur County, TX

The radar

The Shreveport radar (KSHV), 76 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:30 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.

Warnings issued inside it

14 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 27, 2:44 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	SHV	Upshur	46 min
May 27, 2:56 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	SHV	Gregg	49 min
May 27, 3:35 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	SHV	Harrison	60 min
May 27, 4:01 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	SHV	Marion	49 min
May 27, 4:29 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	SHV	Rusk	41 min
May 27, 4:33 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	SHV	Harrison	47 min
May 27, 4:37 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	SHV	Caddo	48 min
May 27, 4:56 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	SHV	Panola	34 min
May 27, 5:06 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	SHV	Bossier	49 min
May 27, 5:33 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	SHV	Panola	42 min
May 27, 6:10 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	SHV	Caddo	35 min
May 27, 6:31 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	SHV	Rusk	49 min
May 27, 7:34 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	SHV	Panola	46 min
May 27, 7:40 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LZK	Polk	50 min

The nearest sounding before it

Shreveport, LA (KSHV), launched 12:00Z, 7.5 hours before the alert went out and 78 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: 632 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -130 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1077 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 13 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 38 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

253 
WWUS9 KMKC 271856
SEL5  
MKC WW 271856
TXZ000-ARZ000-LAZ000-280200-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 445
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
156 PM CDT WED MAY 27 1998

THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF

   NORTHEAST TEXAS                              
   SOUTHWEST ARKANSAS                           
   NORTHWEST LOUISIANA                          

EFFECTIVE THIS WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 230 PM UNTIL
900 PM CDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 70 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 30 MILES SOUTHEAST OF LONGVIEW TEXAS TO 80 MILES
NORTH NORTHEAST OF TEXARKANA ARKANSAS.

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. 
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...  CONTINUE...WW 444...

DISCUSSION...WELL DEFINED MID LEVEL VORT TRACKING ENEWD ACROSS N
CNTRL TX.  WIND PROFILES HAVE BECOME FAVORABLE E OF SYSTEM FOR
SUPERCELLS WITH BACKING IN LOW LEVEL AND INCREASING SPEEDS MID
LEVELS.  AIRMASS NOW QUITE UNSTABLE WITH CAPES NEAR 3000 J/KG. 
STORMS EXPECTED TO INCREASE ACROSS NERN TX AND BECOME SEVERE AS
THEY DEVELOP/MOVE NEWD INTO AR AND NWRN LA.  ISOLATED TORNADOES
LIKELY ALONG WITH WIND/HAIL POTENTIAL.


AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 INCHES.  EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS.  A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 520. 
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 23030.


...HALES

320,0953 343,0944 343,0921 320,0930

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 27, 6:45 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Ashley, Chicot	6 hr
May 26, 10:00 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Bandera, Blanco, Bosque, Brown, Burnet, Coke and 29 more	6 hr
May 27, 12:15 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Anderson, Bell, Bosque, Bowie, Camp, Cass and 37 more	6 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Arkansas, 1998 Tornado Watches in Texas, 1998 Tornado Watches in Louisiana, 1998 Every tornado watch 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.