Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Warnings in 1999

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Memphis, TN

January 17, 1999Randolph County, Arkansas

NWS Memphis, TN issued this tornado warning at Jan 17, 1999, 3:53 PM CST for Randolph County, Arkansas. It was in force for 32 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Jan 17, 1999, 3:53 PM CST (21:53 UTC)
Expired: Jan 17, 1999, 4:25 PM CST
In force: 32 min
Issued by: NWS Memphis, TN
Area: Whole counties

County Randolph County, AR

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 17, 2:30 PM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 12:00Z, 9.9 hours before the alert went out and 194 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: 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

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

999 
WFUS1 KMEM 172152 RRA
TORMEM
ARC121-172225-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
353 PM CST SUN JAN 17 1999


THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  RANDOLPH COUNTY IN NORTHEASTERN ARKANSAS

* UNTIL 425 PM CST

* AT 353 PM CST... STORM SPOTTERS REPORTED A TORNADO NEAR HIGHWAY
  166 SOUTHWEST OF POCAHONTAS. THIS STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30
  MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
  POCAHONTAS BY 405 PM CST
  BIGGERS BY 420 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 17, 2:00 PM CST, 1 hour 53 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>092-180300-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
200 PM CST SUN JAN 17 1999

THIS OUTLOOK COVERS THE COUNTY WARNING AREA OF THE NATIONAL WEATHER
SERVICE FORECAST OFFICE IN MEMPHIS TENNESSEE..INCLUDING NORTHEAST
ARKANSAS..THE MISSOURI BOOTHEEL..WEST TENNESSEE..AND NORTHERN
MISSISSIPPI.

RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE INCREASED IN THE MIDSOUTH. MODERATE
RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER IS NOW CENTERED OVER MEMPHIS TENNESSEE..WITH
THIS RISK EXTENDING OUT AROUND 75 MILES. A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS EXITS FOR THE REST OF THE MIDSOUTH.

AN AREA OF STORMS IS DEVELOPING FROM NORTH CENTRAL TO SOUTH CENTRAL
ARKANSAS. THESE STORMS WILL INTENSIFY AS THEY MOVE EAST THIS
AFTERNOON AND EVENING. VERY STRONG SOUTHWESTERLY WINDS ARE FILLING
THE ATMOSPHERE WITH INCREASINGLY MOIST UNSTABLE AIR. ISOLATED
TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE ALONG WITH DAMAGING STRAIGHT LINE WINDS
AND LARGE HAIL UNTIL A COLD FROM PASSES THIS EVENING.

STORM SPOTTER GROUPS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL SHOULD BE
PREPARED FOR POSSIBLE ACTIVATION THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY THIS
EVENING. MONITOR NOAA WEATHER RADIO..COMMERCIAL RADIO..TV AND CABLE
TELEVISION OUTLETS FOR THE LATEST FORECASTS AND INFORMATION.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jan 17, 2:57 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Lawrence	33 min
Jan 17, 3:20 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Randolph	50 min
Jan 17, 3:37 PM CST	Tornado Warning	MEG	Craighead, Poinsett	48 min
Jan 17, 4:17 PM CST	Tornado Warning	MEG	Craighead, Poinsett	43 min
Jan 17, 4:19 PM CST	Tornado Warning	MEG	Greene	51 min
Jan 17, 4:35 PM CST	Tornado Warning	MEG	Cross	45 min
Jan 17, 4:51 PM CST	Tornado Warning	MEG	Mississippi	49 min
Jan 17, 5:04 PM CST	Tornado Warning	MEG	Crittenden	46 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Arkansas, 1999 Every tornado warning in 1999 Tornadoes 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.