Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Warnings in 1999

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Little Rock, AR

January 17, 1999Independence County, Jackson County, Arkansas

NWS Little Rock, AR issued this tornado warning at Jan 17, 1999, 2:55 PM CST for Independence County, Jackson County, Arkansas. It was in force for 50 min. 11 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
Jan 17, 1999, 2:55 PM CST (20:55 UTC)
Expired
Jan 17, 1999, 3:45 PM CST
In force
50 min
Issued by
NWS Little Rock, AR
Area
Whole counties

Counties Independence County, AR, Jackson County, AR

The radar

The Little Rock radar (KLZK), 122 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:55 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
Jan 17, 2:55 PM CSTHail 0.75Oil Trough, AR
Jan 17, 2:56 PM CSTTornado F2Jacksonport, AR
Jan 17, 3:01 PM CSTHail 1.25Oil Trough, AR
Jan 17, 3:06 PM CSTTornado F1Jacksonport, AR
Jan 17, 3:06 PM CSTHail 1.75Newport, AR
Jan 17, 3:08 PM CSTTornado F0Diaz, AR
Jan 17, 3:23 PM CSTTornado F1Tuckerman, AR
Jan 17, 3:28 PM CSTTornado F0Tuckerman, AR
Jan 17, 3:28 PM CSTTornado F1Grubbs, AR
Jan 17, 3:35 PM CSTHail 2.75Grubbs, AR
Jan 17, 3:38 PM CSTTornado F0Grubbs, 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 watch it was issued in

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

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Jan 17, 2:30 PM CSTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 12:00Z, 8.9 hours before the alert went out and 161 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 12:00Z on 1999-01-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 23 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, Little Rock, AR at 12:00Z on 1999-01-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 331 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
23 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-31 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
502 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
43 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
331 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
353 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

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 17, 2:48 PM CST, 7 minutes before
ARZ007>009-016>018-025>028-033>036-045>049-056>058-063>065-172245-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
248 PM CST SUN JAN 17 1999

...TORNADO WATCH ISSUED FOR EASTERN ARKANSAS...

A TORNADO WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR MUCH OF EASTERN ARKANSAS AND WILL
REMAIN IN EFFECT UNTIL 800 PM CST.

AT MID AFTERNOON...A COLD FRONT WAS LOCATED OVER WEST CENTRAL ARKANSAS.
ALSO...AN UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WAS MOVING ACROSS THE STATE AT
MID AFTERNOON. WARM TEMPERATURES AND STRONG SOUTHWESTERLY WINDS ARE
PREVALENT ACROSS ARKANSAS THIS AFTERNOON.

ALL OF THESE WEATHER FACTORS ARE COMBINING TO PRODUCE SCATTERED STRONG
TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE EASTERN HALF OF THE STATE THIS
AFTERNOON.

THESE STORMS HAVE PRODUCED LARGE HAIL...AND ARE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING
DAMAGING WINDS AND POSSIBLY TORNADOES.

PERSONS IN THE EASTERN HALF OF ARKANSAS SHOULD REMAIN ALERT FOR THE
NEXT FEW HOURS AND BE PREPARED TO TAKE QUICK ACTION WHEN WARNINGS ARE
ISSUED.

22

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 17, 1:49 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKSearcy36 min
Jan 17, 2:04 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKWhite36 min
Jan 17, 2:15 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKStone35 min
Jan 17, 2:29 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKVan Buren31 min
Jan 17, 2:45 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKIndependence, White35 min
Jan 17, 2:49 PM CSTTornado WarningLZKWhite36 min
Jan 17, 2:54 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKSharp31 min
Jan 17, 3:10 PM CSTTornado WarningLZKIndependence, Jackson50 min
Jan 17, 3:19 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKWhite61 min
Jan 17, 3:26 PM CSTTornado WarningLZKJackson64 min
Jan 17, 4:09 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKWoodruff36 min
Jan 17, 4:16 PM CSTTornado WarningLZKWoodruff34 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.