Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Warnings in 1999
Tornado Warning 17, NWS Memphis, TN
NWS Memphis, TN issued this tornado warning at Jan 21, 1999, 4:24 PM CST for Clay County, Arkansas. It was in force for 46 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
- Jan 21, 1999, 4:24 PM CST (22:24 UTC)
- Expired
- Jan 21, 1999, 5:10 PM CST
- In force
- 46 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 22:24 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 21, 4:45 PM CST | Tornado F0 | Knobel, AR | The tornado started east of Knobel and continued northeast. The tornado may have come up and down several times. One home had damage to its roof and porch south of the town of Walnut Grove. |
| Jan 21, 5:05 PM CST | Tornado F4 | Knobel, AR | The tornado started southeast of Knobel and tracked northeast. The most serious damage occurred early in the life of the tornado. Two homes were destroyed on County Road 238. Several other homes were damaged. Two trailer trucks were rolled over. As the tornado |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 21, 2:30 PM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | 7 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 12:00Z, 10.4 hours before the alert went out and 176 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 701 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -198 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 594 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 57 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 258 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 227 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.2
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
999 WFUS1 KMEM 212222 RRA TORMEM ARC021-212310- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN 424 PM CST THU JAN 21 1999 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... CLAY COUNTY IN EASTERN ARKANSAS * UNTIL 510 PM CST * AT 422 PM CST... PUBLIC OFFICIALS REPORTED A TORNADO 12 MILES SOUTHWEST OF CORNING OR 7 MILES SOUTHWEST OF KNOBEL... MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH. * THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR... KNOBEL BY 430 PM CST CORNING BY 435 PM CST HICKORIA BY 445 PM CST .A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THE WARNED AREA. REMEMBER... SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING. REMAIN CALM BUT BE ALERT TO RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS.
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, 12:17 PM CST, 4 hours 7 minutes before
ARZ008-009-017-018-026>028-035-036-048-049-058-MOZ113-115-MSZ001>017- 020>024-TNZ001>004-019>021-048>054-088>092-221000- SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN 1217 PM CST THU JAN 21 1999 THIS OUTLOOK COVERS THE COUNTY WARNING AREA OF THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST OFFICE IN MEMPHIS TENNESSEE..INCLUDING WEST TENNESSEE..NORTH MISSISSIPPI..EAST ARKANSAS..AND THE MISSOURI BOOTHEEL. THERE IS A HIGH RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND TORNADOES ACROSS THE COUNTY WARNING AREA..INCLUDING WEST TENNESSEE..NORTH MISSISSIPPI..EAST ARKANSAS..AND THE MISSOURI BOOTHEEL..THIS EVENING THROUGH TONIGHT. SOUTHERLY SURFACE WINDS WILL CONTINUE TO PUMP UNSEASONABLY MILD..MOIST AIR INTO THE MIDSOUTH THIS AFTERNOON CAUSING THE ATMOSPHERE TO BECOME INCREASINGLY UNSTABLE. MEANWHILE..A LARGE UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE OVER OKLAHOMA WILL CONTINUE TO STRENGTHEN AND BEGIN TO MOVE EAST. THESE ARE ALL KEY INGREDIENTS FOR A MAJOR SEVERE WEATHER EVENT. THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP AND MOVE INTO THE MIDSOUTH LATER THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT. A HIGH RISK MEANS THAT WIDESPREAD SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED. A DANGEROUS SITUATION EXISTS WITH STRONG POTENTIAL FOR KILLER TORNADOES..VERY LARGE HAIL..DEVASTATING WINDS AND WIDESPREAD PROPERTY DAMAGE. SEVERE WEATHER WILL ERUPT LATER THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT. STORM SPOTTER GROUPS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR POSSIBLE ACTIVATION THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. PERSONS LIVING IN WEST TENNESSEE..NORTH MISSISSIPPI..EAST ARKANSAS..AND THE MISSOURI BOOTHEEL NEED TO KEEP ABREAST OF THIS POTENTIAL DANGEROUS WEATHER SITUATION. PLEASE MONITOR NOAA WEATHER RADIO..COMMERCIAL RADIO..TV AND CABLE TELEVISION OUTLETS FOR THE LATEST FORECASTS AND SEVERE WEATHER INFORMATION.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Memphis, TN issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 21, 3:24 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Phillips | 41 min |
| Jan 21, 3:45 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Lawrence | 50 min |
| Jan 21, 4:07 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Greene, Randolph | 48 min |
| Jan 21, 4:20 PM CST | Tornado Warning | MEG | Greene, Lawrence | 45 min |
| Jan 21, 4:33 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Cross, Poinsett | 47 min |
| Jan 21, 4:51 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Craighead | 49 min |
| Jan 21, 4:54 PM CST | Tornado Warning | MEG | Cross, Poinsett | 46 min |
| Jan 21, 5:04 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Greene | 51 min |
| Jan 21, 5:11 PM CST | Tornado Warning | MEG | Clay | 19 min |
| Jan 21, 5:14 PM CST | Tornado Warning | MEG | Craighead | 46 min |
| Jan 21, 5:25 PM CST | Tornado Warning | MEG | Lee, St. Francis | 50 min |
| Jan 21, 5:35 PM CST | Tornado Warning | MEG | Lawrence | 50 min |
| Jan 21, 5:42 PM CST | Tornado Warning | MEG | Greene | 48 min |
| Jan 21, 5:47 PM CST | Tornado Warning | MEG | Cross | 48 min |
| Jan 21, 5:52 PM CST | Tornado Warning | MEG | Randolph | 48 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.