Alert archive / Arkansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 147, NWS Little Rock, AR
NWS Little Rock, AR issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 9, 2002, 4:48 AM CDT for Yell County, Arkansas. It was in force for 47 min. 5 reports 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
- May 9, 2002, 4:48 AM CDT (09:48 UTC)
- Expired
- May 9, 2002, 5:35 AM CDT
- In force
- 47 min
- Issued by
- NWS Little Rock, AR
- Area
- Counties, with a storm outline in the text
County Yell County, AR
The radar
The Western Arkansas radar (KSRX), 92 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 09:49 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, 5:05 AM CDT | Hail 1.75 | Belleville, AR | |
| May 9, 5:15 AM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 50 E | Rover, AR | Thunderstorm winds downed some large tree limbs. |
| May 9, 5:30 AM CDT | Hail 1.75 | Ola, AR | |
| May 9, 5:30 AM CDT | Hail 0.75 | Mt George, AR | |
| May 9, 5:30 AM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 50 E | Mt George, AR | Several trees were blown down. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 9, 4:45 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 4 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Springfield, MO (KSGF), launched 00:00Z, 9.8 hours before the alert went out and 214 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1675 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -36 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 811 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 53 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 285 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 375 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 2.9
- Supercell composite
- 13.6
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 Little Rock, AR wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at May 9, 4:38 AM CDT, 10 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, May 9, 4:38 AM CDT, 10 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 400 AM CDT THU MAY 9 2002 COLD FRONT SHOULD SLOWLY MOVE ACROSS THE AREA TODAY. FIGURE ON IT MOVING A LITTLE SLOWER THAN MODELS SHOW, WHICH HAS BEEN THE GENERAL CASE IN RECENT MONTHS. EFFECTIVE FRONTAL BOUNDARY MAY BE AHEAD OF THE FRONT, DETERMINED BY THUNDERSTORMS THIS MORNING AND RESULTING OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES. FIGURE ONGOING CONVECTION WILL CONTINUE INTO THE MORNING, AFFECTING ALL BUT SOUTHEASTERN SECTIONS. WILL GO WITH LIKELY POPS THIS MORNING FOR ALL BUT THE SOUTHEAST. DRYING MOVES INTO THE NORTHWEST BY AFTERNOON, AND FIGURE MAIN THRUST OF THE PRECIPITATION SHOULD BE INTO THE SOUTHEAST THIS AFTERNOON. WILL DECREASE POPS IN THE NORTHWEST FOR THE AFTERNOON. FIGURE ON SOME WARMING IN THE SOUTHEAST TODAY BEFORE THE STORMS ARRIVE, WITH MAXES REACHING NEAR OR A LITTLE ABOVE 80, BUT OTHER AREAS WILL SHOW LITTLE WARMING WITH MAXES IN THE 70S IN MOST AREAS. MAIN MOISTURE AXIS MOVES INTO THE SOUTH TONIGHT WHERE THE FRONT STALLS. WILL GO WITH LOW POPS IN CENTRAL SECTIONS AND 40 PERCENT POPS ACROSS THE SOUTH FOR TONIGHT. COOLER AIR WILL MOVE IN, BUT THINK MAIN COOLING WILL REMAIN TO THE NORTH OF THE STATE AND WILL GO A LITTLE ABOVE MOS ON MINS. FRONT REMAINS TO THE SOUTH OF THE AREA ON FRIDAY WITH MODEST MOISTURE REMAINING OVER THE AREA. MAY SEE A REPEAT OF PAST SITUATIONS, WITH MOSTLY CLOUDY SKIES AND TEMPS REMAINING COOL. WILL GO WITH MAXES MOSTLY IN THE 60S FOR FRIDAY AND 40 PERCENT POPS OVER THE WHOLE AREA. SURFACE HIGH SHIFTS TO THE EAST FRIDAY NIGHT INTO SATURDAY AND RETURN FLOW BEGINS WITH WARM ADVECTION, MOSTLY TO THE WEST. FRONT SHOULD MOVE NORTH AS A WARM FRONT FRIDAY NIGHT INTO SATURDAY. WILL BROAD BRUSH 30 PERCENT POPS FOR FRIDAY NIGHT, THEN WILL GO WITH LOWER POPS TO THE SOUTH FOR SATURDAY. TEMPS SHOULD NOT DROP MUCH FRIDAY NIGHT, THEN SHOULD SEE MAXES RETURN TO THE 80S IN MOST AREAS SATURDAY. .LZK...NONE
The office that day
Everything else NWS Little Rock, AR issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 9, 12:17 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Boone, Marion, Newton | 53 min |
| May 9, 4:05 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Logan, Scott | 55 min |
| May 9, 5:00 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | LZK | Yell | 35 min |
| May 9, 5:37 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Perry | 43 min |
| May 9, 6:20 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Faulkner | 40 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Arkansas, 2002Every severe thunderstorm 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.