Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Warnings in 1999

Tornado Warning 122, NWS Memphis, TN

June 3, 1999Clay County, Arkansas

NWS Memphis, TN issued this tornado warning at Jun 3, 1999, 6:50 PM CDT for Clay County, Arkansas. It was in force for 30 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
Jun 3, 1999, 6:50 PM CDT (23:50 UTC)
Expired
Jun 3, 1999, 7:20 PM CDT
In force
30 min
Issued by
NWS Memphis, TN
Area
Whole counties

County Clay County, AR

The radar

The Memphis radar (KNQA), 124 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:54 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
Jun 3, 6:55 PM CDTTornado F0Rector, ARA tornado briefly touched down just east of Rector. An airplane was turned over. Several large tree limbs were blown down as well.

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

Springfield, MO (KSGF), launched 12:00Z, 11.8 hours before the alert went out and 308 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, Springfield, MO at 12:00Z on 1999-06-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1484 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, Springfield, MO at 12:00Z on 1999-06-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 162 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
1484 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-48 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
798 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
162 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
118 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

254 
WFUS1 KMEM 032352 RRA
TORMEM
ARC021-040020-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
650 PM CDT THU JUN 3 1999


THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHERN CLAY COUNTY IN EASTERN ARKANSAS

* UNTIL 720 PM CDT

* AT 647 PM CDT... LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS REPORTED TORNADOES
  NEAR RECTOR. THEY ARE MOVING SLOWLY EAST AT LESS THAN 5 MPH.
  PERSONS IN SOUTHEASTERN CLAY COUNTY SHOULD TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY.

.THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM. TAKE COVER IN A SUBSTANTIAL BUILDING
IMMEDIATELY.



&

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 3, 4:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGCraighead34 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.