Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Warnings in 2001

Tornado Warning 52, NWS Little Rock, AR

November 26, 2001Bradley County, Arkansas

NWS Little Rock, AR issued this tornado warning at Nov 26, 2001, 5:23 PM CST for Bradley County, Arkansas. It was in force for 37 min. 1 report 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: Nov 26, 2001, 5:23 PM CST (23:23 UTC)
Expired: Nov 26, 2001, 6:00 PM CST
In force: 37 min
Issued by: NWS Little Rock, AR
Area: Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

County Bradley County, AR

The radar

The Little Rock radar (KLZK), 145 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:26 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
Nov 26, 5:47 PM CST	Tornado F2	Banks, AR	A strong tornado was spawned in northern Bradley County. The tornado first touched down 4 miles east-northeast of Banks and traveled to the northeast. The most severe damage occurred in the McKinney community, or about 7 miles northeast of Banks, where a num

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
Nov 26, 1:00 PM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Shreveport, LA (KSHV), launched 12:00Z, 11.4 hours before the alert went out and 185 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: 31 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -250 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 732 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 56 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 288 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 297 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 1.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

163 
WFUS54 KLZK 262323
TORLIT
ARC011-270000-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
523 PM CST MON NOV 26 2001

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  BRADLEY COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST ARKANSAS

* UNTIL 600 PM CST

* AT 521 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO 12 MILES SOUTHWEST OF BANKS...OR ABOUT 9 MILES SOUTHEAST OF
  HAMPTON...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  FARMVILLE AND BANKS AROUND 545 PM CST

&&

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO...HEAD INDOORS NOW GO TO AN
INTERIOR ROOM AWAY FROM WINDOWS ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. PUT AS MANY
WALLS BETWEEN YOURSELF AND THE OUTDOORS AS YOU CAN. ABANDON MOBILES
HOMES NOW. MOVE TO A STRONG BUILDING OR UNDERGROUND SHELTER. IF THERE
ARE NO BUILDINGS NEARBY...LIE IN A DITCH TO AVOID FLYING DEBRIS. BUT
BEWARE OF RISING WATER.

REPORT SEVERE WEATHER TO THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY. THEY
WILL RELAY YOUR REPORT TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST
OFFICE.

LAT...LON 3355 9204 3332 9236 3345 9230 3363 9230
          3370 9221

$$

54

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.

NWS Little Rock, AR wrote its last area forecast discussion before this tornado warning went out at Nov 26, 3:00 PM CST, 2 hours 23 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 26, 3:00 PM CST, 2 hours 23 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
300 PM CST MON NOV 26 2001

A RATHER COMPLEX WEATHER SCENARIO CONTINUES TO UNFOLD. SEVERE WEATHER
TONIGHT WILL MOVE OUT AND MAKE WAY FOR A SIGNIFICANT WINTRY WEATHER
EPISODE BEGINING AS EARLY AS TUESDAY NIGHT AND CONTINUING THROUGH
MOST OF WEDNESDAY. 8H TEMPS AND THICKNESS VALUES INDICATE SNOW OVER
MOST SECTIONS.

FCSTID = 38

.LZK...NONE.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Nov 26, 11:42 AM CST, 5 hours 41 minutes before

ARZ003>007-012>016-021>025-030>034-037>047-052>057-062>069-262300-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
1142 AM CST MON NOV 26 2001

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND POSSIBLE TORNADOS EXPECTED THIS
AFTERNOON AND EVENING ACROSS MUCH OF ARKANSAS...

THERE IS A MODERATE RISK FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE
SOUTHEAST HALF OF ARKANSAS LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND THROUGH THIS
EVENING. THERE IS ALSO A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS
THE REMAINDER OR ARKANSAS WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE FAR NORTHWEST.

CURRENTLY...A STRONG LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WAS CENTERED OVER SOUTHWEST
NEBRASKA WITH A COLD FRONT TRAILING ACROSS CENTRAL OKLAHOMA AND
TEXAS. A WARM FRONT HAS MOVED INTO ARKANSAS LATE THIS MORNING. AS
THE WARM FRONT CONTINUES TO MOVE NORTH...THE ATMOSPHERE WILL
RAPIDLY DESTABILIZE WITH WARM SURFACE TEMPERATURES AND ABUNDANT
MOISTURE.

VERTICAL WIND PROFILES SUGGEST DAMAGING WIND GUSTS WILL OCCUR WITH
THESE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. ALSO...THERE IS A POTENTIAL FOR THESE
THUNDERSTORMS TO ROTATE RESULTING IN TORNADOS.

PERSONS ACROSS ARKANSAS SHOULD REVIEW SEVERE WEATHER SAFETY RULES AND
PLANS. STORM SPOTTERS...AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS...AND EMERGENCY
MANAGERS WILL LIKELY BE ACTIVATED THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT IN
RESPONSE TO SEVERE WEATHER.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...COMMERCIAL TELEVISION OR RADIO
STATIONS...OR YOUR CABLE TELEVISION PROVIDER FOR UPDATED INFORMATION
REGARDING THE SEVERE WEATHER THREAT.

Special weather statement, Nov 26, 1:07 PM CST, 4 hours 16 minutes before

ARZ052>057-062>069-270000-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
107 PM CST MON NOV 26 2001

TORNADO WATCH 824 IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM. THIS WATCH IS IN EFFECT
FOR AN AREA...GENERALLY ALONG AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM GLENWOOD...TO
STUTTGART.

ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TO QUICKLY BECOME UNSTABLE THIS
AFTERNOON ACROSS THE WATCH AREA...AHEAD OF A COLD FRONT...MOVING EAST
ACROSS EASTERN OKLAHOMA AND NORTHEAST TEXAS. THE UNSTABLE
CONDITIONS...ALONG WITH VERTICAL WIND PROFILES SUGGEST THUNDERSTORMS
THAT FORM AHEAD OF THE COLD FRONT WILL DEVELOP QUICKLY...AND WILL
LIKELY BECOME SUPERCELLS.  THE SUPERCELL THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE
CAPABLE OF PRODUCING LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WIND GUSTS...AND
TORNADOES.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...COMMERCIAL TELEVISION OR RADIO
STATIONS...OR YOUR CABLE TELEVISION PROVIDER FOR LATER STATEMENTS
CONCERNING THIS SEVERE WEATHER THREAT.

55

The office that day

Everything else NWS Little Rock, AR issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Nov 26, 4:17 PM CST	Tornado Warning	LZK	Clark	28 min
Nov 26, 4:28 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LZK	Dallas	32 min
Nov 26, 4:42 PM CST	Tornado Warning	LZK	Ouachita	33 min
Nov 26, 4:45 PM CST	Tornado Warning	LZK	Calhoun	45 min
Nov 26, 5:03 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LZK	Grant	42 min
Nov 26, 5:29 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LZK	Cleveland, Jefferson	46 min
Nov 26, 5:58 PM CST	Tornado Warning	LZK	Cleveland	32 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Arkansas, 2001 Every tornado warning in 2001 Tornadoes in 2001

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.