Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Warnings in 2000

Tornado Warning 23, NWS Memphis, TN

May 9, 2000Mississippi County, Arkansas

NWS Memphis, TN issued this tornado warning at May 9, 2000, 4:44 PM CDT for Mississippi County, Arkansas. It was in force for 46 min. 2 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline the Iowa Environmental Mesonet reconstructed for it; the warning itself named whole counties, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: May 9, 2000, 4:44 PM CDT (21:44 UTC)
Expired: May 9, 2000, 5:30 PM CDT
In force: 46 min
Issued by: NWS Memphis, TN
Area: Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

County Mississippi County, AR

The radar

The Memphis radar (KNQA), 63 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:47 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
May 9, 5:13 PM CDT	Hail 0.75	Blytheville, AR
May 9, 5:15 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Blytheville, AR	Several cotton wagons are blown over. A few power poles were snapped. A privacy fence was also blown down. A carport had a wall blown out. Numerous trees were knocked down. One tree fell on a garage.

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

Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 12:00Z, 9.7 hours before the alert went out and 118 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: 122 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -548 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1018 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 26 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: -5 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.

000 
WFUS54 KMEG 092147
TORMEM
ARC093-092230-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
444 PM CDT TUE MAY 9 2000

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHERN MISSISSIPPI COUNTY IN NORTHEAST ARKANSAS

* UNTIL 530 PM CDT

* AT 443 PM CDT...WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A DEVELOPING TORNADO 7     
  MILES SOUTHWEST OF LEACHVILLE...MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH. AT 440      
  PM...A TRAINED SPOTTER REPORTED A TORNADO NEAR BLACK OAK IN        
  EASTERN CRAIGHEAD COUNTY.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  MANILA AROUND 455 PM CDT
  DELL...VICTORIA AROUND 505 PM CDT
  BURDETTE AROUND 515 PM CDT

.A TORNADO HAS BEEN CONFIRMED. DO NOT RUN OUTSIDE TO FIND THE
TORNADO...TAKE COVER IN A STURDY BUILDING NOW!

LAT...LON 3598 9034 3573 9033 3574 8988 3596 8969

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 9, 3:22 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Lawrence	23 min
May 9, 3:46 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MEG	Greene	29 min
May 9, 3:55 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Craighead	35 min
May 9, 4:12 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MEG	Craighead	33 min
May 9, 4:16 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MEG	Clay, Greene	29 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Arkansas, 2000 Every tornado warning in 2000 Tornadoes in 2000

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.