Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Warnings in 1999

Tornado Warning 22, NWS Memphis, TN

January 21, 1999Lawrence County, Arkansas

NWS Memphis, TN issued this tornado warning at Jan 21, 1999, 5:35 PM CST for Lawrence County, Arkansas. It was in force for 50 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: Jan 21, 1999, 5:35 PM CST (23:35 UTC)
Expired: Jan 21, 1999, 6:25 PM CST
In force: 50 min
Issued by: NWS Memphis, TN
Area: Whole counties

County Lawrence County, AR

The radar

The Memphis radar (KNQA), 136 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:35 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, 6:00 PM CST	Tornado F0	Hoxie, AR	A tornado briefly touched down just west of Hoxie producing little 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, 11.6 hours before the alert went out and 171 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: 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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

999 
WFUS1 KMEM 212334 RRA
TORMEM
ARC075-220025-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
535 PM CST THU JAN 21 1999


THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 625 PM CST

* AT 533 PM CST... DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 21 MILES
  SOUTHWEST OF WALNUT RIDGE OR 16 MILES SOUTHWEST OF BLACK ROCK...
  MOVING NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
  LYNN BY 540 PM CST
  STRAWBERRY BY 540 PM CST
  ANNIEVILLE BY 550 PM CST
  BLACK ROCK BY 550 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 LIGHTNING. PEOPLE OUTSIDE SHOULD MOVE TO A PLACE OF SAFETY...
PREFERABLY INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING BUT STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

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, 5 hours 18 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, 4:24 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, 5:25 PM CST	Tornado Warning	MEG	Lee, St. Francis	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, 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.