Alert archive / Arkansas / Flash Flood Warnings in 2002

Flash Flood Warning 5, NWS Little Rock, AR

March 17, 20024 counties in Arkansas

NWS Little Rock, AR issued this flash flood warning at Mar 17, 2002, 6:19 PM CST for 4 counties in Arkansas. It was in force for 101 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Mar 17, 2002, 6:19 PM CST (00:19 UTC)
Expired
Mar 17, 2002, 8:00 PM CST
In force
101 min
Issued by
NWS Little Rock, AR
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Arkansas County, AR, Jefferson County, AR, Monroe County, AR, Prairie County, AR

Did it verify

Not verified. The Iowa Environmental Mesonet's Cow found no qualifying storm report inside this flash flood warning while it was in force. That is not proof nothing happened: reports are thin where few people live.

Cow counts a report within 15 km of the polygon while the warning was in force: a tornado for a tornado warning; hail of 1 inch or more, a gust of 58 mph or more or wind damage for a severe thunderstorm warning; a flash flood report for a flash flood warning.

The nearest sounding before it

Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 00:00Z, 0.3 hours before the alert went out and 137 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, Little Rock, AR at 00:00Z on 2002-03-18Temperature 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, Little Rock, AR at 00:00Z on 2002-03-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -245 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
1036 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
74 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-245 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
197 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 
WGUS54 KLZK 180019
FFWLIT
ARC001-069-095-117-180200-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING...RETRANSMITTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
617 PM CST SUN MAR 17 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  PRAIRIE COUNTY IN CENTRAL ARKANSAS
  MONROE COUNTY IN EASTERN ARKANSAS
  ARKANSAS COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST ARKANSAS
  JEFFERSON COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST ARKANSAS

* UNTIL 800 PM CST

*  HEAVY RAIN HAS BEEN FALLING OVER THE AREA FOR THE PAST            
   SEVERAL HOURS. RADAR ESTIMATES SHOW THAT CLOSER TO 3 INCHES OF    
   RAIN HAS FALLEN IN SOME AREA. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL      
   CONTINUE TO MOVE OVER THESE SAME AREAS FOR THE NEXT HOUR OR SO.   
   FLASH FLOODING IS LIKELY. 

&&

THIS WARNING EXTENDS THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR JEFFERSON COUNTY... 
WHICH WAS ORIGINALLY IN EFFECT ONLY UNTIL 630 PM CST.

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

LAT...LON 3462 9115 3418 9120 3419 9167 3457 9166

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this flash flood 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 flash flood warning went out at Mar 17, 2:50 PM CST, 3 hours 29 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 17, 2:50 PM CST, 3 hours 29 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
250 PM CST SUN MAR 17 2002

FORECAST CONCERNS: WARM FRONT MOVEMENT/POPS...TEMPS AND HEAVY
RAINFALL POTENTIAL MONDAY NIGHT AND TUESDAY.

ITS THE TALE BETWEEN TWO AIRMASSES THIS AFTN...WITH WARM FRONT
LOCATED VCNTY EXTREME SERN AR ATTM. BAND OF ELEVATED SHRA/TSRA
CONTINUES TO SHIFT SLOLY NWD AS WELL AND HAS WORKED INTO CNTRL AR.
CLOUDS HAVE BROKEN OVER NRN AR. TEMPS RUNNING IN THE 40S AND 50S
NORTH OF THE BNDRY...WITH LOWER 80S INTO NWRN LA

MODELS REMAIN IN DECENT AGREEMENT TODAY WITH OVERALL TRENDS FOR THIS
FCST. THEY HAVE TRENDED TOWARDS A SLOWER PROGRESSION AS FAR AS THE
UPPER TROF COMING OUT OF THE SWRN STATES. BEFORE THAT OCCURS...SWLY
FLOW ALOFT WILL CONTINUE TO DIRECT SEVERAL SHORTWAVES ACRS THE FA
THE NEXT TWO DAYS...RESULTING IN PERSISTENT PRECIP CHANCES. ALSO...
THE MODELS NOW FOCUSING HEAVY RAINFALL THREAT FOR MUCH OF WRN AND
NRN AR STARTING LATE TOMORROW THRU TUESDAY. AGAIN WENT WITH THE ETA
AND AVN SOLUTIONS FOR THIS FCST.

FOR TNGT...RAIN CHANCES WILL BE FOCUSED ALONG AND N OF THE WARM
FRONT...SO WILL HAVE HIGHEST POPS CNTRL AND SRN ZONES. MAY PLACE A
SMALL POP OVER NRN ZONES FOR CONTINUITY...BUT NOTHING MORE THAN 20%
PLANNED. EXPECT SOME COOLING OVER NRN AR THIS EVENING WITH LIMITED
CLOUD COVER. CNTRL AND SRN AR WILL LIKELY SEE STEADY OR RISING TEMPS
OVERNIGHT...ESPECIALLY SOUTH OF THE WARM FRONT. COULD ALSO SEE SOME
LOCALIZED FLOODING LATER THIS EVENING IF RAIN AXIS STALLS OUT.
HOWEVER...WITH UNCERTAINTY OF BNDRY PROGRESSION AND FFG VALUES
RUNNING ARND 2 INCHES/3 HOURS...PLAN NO FFA ATTM.

WARM FRONT PROGGED TO CONTINUE DRIFTING NWD MONDAY INTO TUESDAY AND
SITUATE ITSELF ALONG THE EDGE OF THE OUACHITA/OZARKS BY MONDAY
NIGHT AND TUESDAY. THIS WILL SET THE STAGE FOR HEAVY RAINFALL FOR
LOCATIONS NORTH OF THE BNDRY. FEEL THAT PRIMARY THREAT OF FLOODING
WILL BE DURING THE 3RD AND 4TH PERIODS...SO WILL NOT HEADLINE WITH A
FFA ATTM...BUT WILL MENTION LOCALLY HEAVY RAINS. LATER SHIFTS WILL
LIKELY HAVE TO CONSIDER POSTING A FF WATCH.

TEMPS THROUGHOUT THIS FCST WILL BE A MAJOR HEADACHE. PLAN TO USE A
BLEND OF NGM AND AVN MOS TEMPS FOR HIGHS. MOS LOWS LOOK REASONABLE
MOST AREAS BASED ON FRONTAL POSITION.

IN THE EXTENDED...UPPER TROF IS PROGGED TO LIFT OF THE SWRN STATES
AND MOVES THRU THE REGION ON WEDNESDAY. ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT WILL
SWEEP THRU TUESDAY AND EARLY TUESDAY NIGHT...BRINGING AND END TO THE
RAIN CHANCES. DRY WEATHER FOR WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY. A PIECE OF
ARCTIC AIR WILL MOVE INTO THE FA LATE IN THE WEEK. COULD SEE SOME
SMALL RAIN CHANCES ALONG FROPA...BUT CONFIDENCE IN LONGER RANGE
PROGS STILL NOT HIGH.

THANKS TO WFO/S TUL AND SGF FOR FCST COORDINATION THIS AFTN.  ..44..

.LZK...NONE.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 18, 12:40 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningLZKBradley, Calhoun, Desha, Drew, Lincoln110 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Arkansas, 2002Every flash flood warning in 2002

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.