Alert archive / Arkansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2001

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 20, NWS Tulsa, OK

February 21, 2001Benton County, Arkansas

NWS Tulsa, OK issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Feb 21, 2001, 3:30 PM CST for Benton County, Arkansas. It was in force for 15 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
Feb 21, 2001, 3:30 PM CST (21:30 UTC)
Expired
Feb 21, 2001, 3:45 PM CST
In force
15 min
Issued by
NWS Tulsa, OK
Area
Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

County Benton County, AR

The radar

The Tulsa radar (KINX), 104 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:32 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Feb 21, 3:35 PM CSTHail 0.75Gravette, AR

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

Springfield, MO (KSGF), launched 12:00Z, 9.5 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.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Springfield, MO at 12:00Z on 2001-02-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Springfield, MO at 12:00Z on 2001-02-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 304 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
968 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
64 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
304 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
401 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 
WUUS54 KTSA 212130
SVRTUL
ARC007-212145-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
330 PM CST WED FEB 21 2001

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  NORTHWESTERN BENTON COUNTY IN NORTHWEST ARKANSAS

* UNTIL 345 PM CST

* AT 330 PM CST...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 2
  MILES EAST OF MAYSVILLE...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE...BELLA VISTA...
  HIWASSE...DECATUR...GRAVETTE AND MAYSVILLE.

HAIL TO THE SIZE OF GOLF BALLS AND WIND GUSTS TO 60 MPH CAN BE 
EXPECTED IN THE WARNED AREA. GOLF BALL HAIL WAS REPORTED WITH
THIS STORM0.

LAT...LON 3640 9469 3627 9453 3657 9409 3675 9431

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Tulsa, OK wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Feb 21, 3:30 PM CST, 0 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 21, 3:30 PM CST, 0 minutes before
EASTERN OKLAHOMA/NORTHWEST ARKANSAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
330 PM CST WED FEB 21 2001

ELEVATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE DEVELOPING ACROSS EASTERN OKLAHOMA AND
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS...AHEAD OF APPROACHING SHORTWAVE. SOME OF THESE
STORMS ARE PRODUCING HAIL. WE EVEN HAVE HAD A REPORT OF SEVERE HAIL
IN BENTON COUNTY. LATEST WATER VAPOR IMAGERY SHOWS DRYING/SUBSIDENCE
ASSOCIATED WITH THE SHORTWAVE MAKING GOOD PROGRESS ACROSS OKLAHOMA.
MODELS DON/T SEEM TO BE HANDLING THE SPEED OF THE WAVE...SO THINK
PRECIPITATION WILL END BY THIS EVENING ACROSS THE WESTERN CWA...AND
MAINLY BY MIDNIGHT ACROSS NORTHWEST ARKANSAS.

SURFACE TEMPERATURES ARE ABOVE FREEZING ACROSS ALL BUT NORTHERN TIER
OF COUNTIES...BORDERING KANSAS...SO WILL INCLUDE SOME MENTION OF
FZRA OR SLEET IN THESE ZONES TONIGHT. SURFACE TEMPERATURES IN
ARKANSAS LIKELY WILL REMAIN ABOVE FREEZING WHILE THE PRECIPITATION
MOVES THROUGH...SO EXPECTING MAINLY RAIN...RATHER THAN FREEZING
RAIN. NO ADVISORIES PLANNED ANYWHERE...GIVEN THE BEST CHANCE OF
PRECIPITATION WILL OCCUR BEFORE TEMPS HAVE GONE BELOW FREEZING. WILL
INCLUDE THUNDERSTORMS IN ALL ZONES...GIVEN MID LEVEL INSTABILITY.

850MB COLD AIR MOVES ACROSS NORTHERN ARKANSAS TONIGHT...BUT BY THE
TIME THE REALLY COLD AIR GETS IN PLACE...PRECIPITATION SHOULD BE
EAST. CLOUDS SHOULD CLEAR OUT THURSDAY...MAKING FOR A PARTLY CLOUDY
TO MOSTLY SUNNY DAY. FRIDAY WILL WARM UP...AS UPPER FLOW TURNS TO
THE SOUTHWEST. POTENT UPPER SYSTEM ON WEST COAST...WILL MOVE TOWARD
THE REGION DURING THE FRIDAY/SATURDAY TIMEFRAME. TEMPERATURES SHOULD
BE IN THE 60S TO LOWER 70S BY SATURDAY. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
APPEAR LIKELY...WITH PLENTY OF UPPER LEVEL SUPPORT AND INSTABILITY.

FCSTID = 6

TUL ET 031/053 042/060 055 063-1
FSM ET 036/057 043/061 055 06401
MLC ET 035/057 046/063 056 063-2
BVO ET 028/052 040/059 054 061-2
FYV ET 029/052 039/058 054 0650-1
BYV ET 028/050 038/057 053 064-1
MIO ET 027/052 036/056 054 061-2
MKO ET 031/053 042/061 056 063-1
F10 ET 035/055 043/060 055 063-2
HHW ET 039/060 048/065 060 063-2=

.TUL...
AR...NONE.
OK...NONE.

TAYLOR

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Feb 21, 12:30 PM CST, 3 hours before
ARZ001-002-010-011-019-020-029-OKZ049-053>076-221200-

EASTERN OKLAHOMA/NORTHWEST ARKANSAS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
1230 PM CST WED FEB 21 2001

...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED THROUGH TONIGHT ACROSS
   MUCH OF EASTERN OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS...

A STATIONARY FRONT WAS LOCATED FROM NORTHEAST TEXAS NORTHWARD INTO
WESTERN ARKANSAS EARLY THIS AFTERNOON. A WEAK UPPER LEVEL
DISTURBANCE WILL ALSO MOVE ACROSS THE PLAINS THIS AFTERNOON AND
TONIGHT. WARM AIR JUST OFF THE SURFACE WILL RIDE UP AND OVER THE
BOUNDARY...GENERATING LIFT FOR THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND
TONIGHT. COLDER TEMPERATURES ALOFT ASSOCIATED WITH THE UPPER SYSTEM
WILL INCREASE INSTABILITY ACROSS EASTERN OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST
ARKANSAS AS THE UPPER SYSTEM DRAWS CLOSER. THE PROXIMITY OF THE
SURFACE BOUNDARY...ALONG WITH THE TRACK AND LIFT ASSOCIATED WITH THE
UPPER SYSTEM PLACES NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS IN A
SLIGHTLY MORE FAVORABLE AREA FOR STORM DEVELOPMENT. AREAL COVERAGE
OF STORMS THAT DEVELOP ACROSS SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA AND WEST CENTRAL
ARKANSAS IS EXPECTED TO REMAIN MORE ISOLATED TO WIDELY SCATTERED IN
NATURE.

A MORE SIGNIFICANT CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS AND HEAVY RAINFALL WILL
OCCUR ON FRIDAY AND SATURDAY AS A STRONG UPPER LEVEL STORM MOVES OUT
OF THE PACIFIC COAST AND INTO THE HIGH PLAINS.

.OTHER HAZARDS...
SOME OF THE RAIN MAY MIX WITH FREEZING RAIN OR SLEET ACROSS THE FAR
NORTHERN SECTIONS OF THE KANSAS BORDER COUNTIES. ANY LIGHT ICING THAT
OCCURS WILL LIKELY BE CONFINED TO FREESTANDING OBJECTS...BRIDGES AND
OVERPASSES.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Tulsa, OK issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Feb 21, 4:49 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSABenton26 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Arkansas, 2001Every severe thunderstorm warning 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.