Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Warnings in 1999
Tornado Warning 21, NWS Memphis, TN
NWS Memphis, TN issued this tornado warning at Jan 21, 1999, 5:25 PM CST for Lee County, St. Francis County, Arkansas. It was in force for 50 min. 4 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, 5:25 PM CST (23:25 UTC)
- Expired
- Jan 21, 1999, 6:15 PM CST
- In force
- 50 min
- Issued by
- NWS Memphis, TN
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Lee County, AR, St. Francis County, AR
The radar
The Memphis radar (KNQA), 95 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:25 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, 5:25 PM CST | Tornado F0 | Garret, AR | A tornado briefly touched down near Garret Grove producing minimal damage. |
| Jan 21, 5:25 PM CST | Tornado F0 | Goodwin, AR | A tornado briefly touched down in Goodwin with some damage reported. |
| Jan 21, 5:30 PM CST | Tornado F2 | Wheatley, AR | The tornado moved into the extreme southwest corner of St. Francis county from Monroe county. It touched down several times and then lifted back into the air. The most severe damage occurred in and near Wheatley. Thirteen homes were completely demolished and s |
| Jan 21, 6:15 PM CST | Tornado F0 | Colt, AR | A tornado briefly touched down just west of Colt producing minimal damage. |
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, 11.4 hours before the alert went out and 75 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.
000 TTAA00 KMEM 212325 RRA TORMEM ARC077-123-220015- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN 525 PM CST THU JAN 21 1999 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... NORTHWESTERN LEE COUNTY IN NORTHEASTERN ARKANSAS WESTERN ST. FRANCIS COUNTY IN NORTHEASTERN ARKANSAS * UNTIL 615 PM CST * AT 523 PM CST... DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 23 MILES WEST OF FORREST CITY OR 3 MILES SOUTHWEST OF WHEATLEY... MOVING NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH. THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR... WHEATLEY BY 530 PM CST .THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM. IF YOU ARE IN ITS PATH YOU SHOULD PREPARE FOR DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH...LARGE HAIL...AND DEADLY LIGH TNING. PEOPLE OUTSIDE SHOULD MOVE TO A PLACE OF SAFETY... PREFERABLY INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING BUT STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.
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, 4:24 PM CST | Tornado Warning | MEG | Clay | 46 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, 5:35 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.