Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Warnings in 1999

Tornado Warning 17, NWS Jackson, MS

January 21, 1999Chicot County, Arkansas

NWS Jackson, MS issued this tornado warning at Jan 21, 1999, 3:59 PM CST for Chicot County, Arkansas. It was in force for 31 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
Jan 21, 1999, 3:59 PM CST (21:59 UTC)
Expired
Jan 21, 1999, 4:30 PM CST
In force
31 min
Issued by
NWS Jackson, MS
Area
Whole counties

County Chicot County, AR

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jan 21, 4:05 PM CSTHail 0.88Eudora, AR

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 nearest sounding before it

Jackson, MS (KJAN), launched 12:00Z, 10.0 hours before the alert went out and 155 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, Jackson, MS at 12:00Z on 1999-01-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1076 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Jackson, MS at 12:00Z on 1999-01-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 227 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
1076 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-109 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
548 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
227 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
299 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.6
Supercell composite
1.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KJAN 212159 RRA
TORJAN
ARC017-212230-

BULLETIN- EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS
359 PM CST THU JAN 21 1999

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN JACKSON HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHERN CHICOT COUNTY IN SOUTHEASTERN ARKANSAS

* UNTIL 430 PM CST

* AT 357 PM CST... RADAR INDICATED A THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF
  PRODUCING A TORNADO 7 MILES WEST OF MCMILLAN CORNER. THIS STORM
  IS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH.


R
* SOME LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS DANGEROUS STORM INCLUDE...
  MACON LAKE BY 410 PM
  DEWEY BY 415 PM

IF YOU ARE IN A MULTIPLE STORY BUILDING...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR
ROOM AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

76

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, Jan 21, 10:30 AM CST, 5 hours 29 minutes before
ARZ074-075-LAZ007>009-015-016-023>026-MSZ018-019-025>066-072>074-
230400-

AREA THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS
1030 AM CST THU JAN 21 1999

...SIGNIFICANT OUTBREAK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH TONIGHT...

A PASSING UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE WILL COMBINE WITH ABUNDANT
JET STREAM ENERGY AND ABUNDANT MOISTURE ALREADY IN PLACE TO TRIGGER
AN OUTBREAK OF SIGNIFICANT SEVERE WEATHER TODAY INTO TONIGHT.

A LINE OF STRONG STORMS WILL BE PASSING THROUGH THE STATE TODAY INTO
TONIGHT. THE LINE OF STORMS WILL BE MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH WITH INDIVIDUAL
STORMS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH. THESE STORMS CAN RAPIDLY REACH SEVERE
LIMITS AS THEY RACE NORTHEASTWARD.  THE RAPID MOVEMENT OF THE STORMS WILL
MEAN EXTREMELY HIGH WINDS WILL BE POSSIBLE ALONG WITH VERY LARGE HAIL.

WITH STRONG...LOW LEVEL WINDS...CONDITIONS WILL BE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADO FORMATION...INCLUDING ISOLATED VERY DAMAGING TORNADOES. WHEN
WARNINGS ARE ISSUED...THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STRONGLY RECOMMENDS
THAT IMMEDIATE SAFETY ACTIONS BE TAKEN...YOUR LIFE MAY DEPEND ON IT.

AS THE COLD FRONT PASSES THROUGH THE STATE TONIGHT INTO EARLY
SATURDAY...COOLER MORE STABLE AIR WILL PREVENT THE FORMATION OF
THUNDERSTORMS SATURDAY.

ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS...HAM RADIO OPERATORS AND EMERGENCY
MANAGEMENT/CIVIL DEFENSE PERSONNEL WILL BE REQUIRED THROUGH TONIGHT.

FOR MORE INFORMATION...PLEASE VISIT OUR INTERNET WEB SITE AT:
HTTP://WWW.JANNWS.STATE.MS.US     /IN LOWER CASE LETTERS/

The office that day

Everything else NWS Jackson, MS issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 21, 3:50 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANAshley, Chicot50 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Arkansas, 1999Every tornado warning in 1999Tornadoes in 1999

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.