Alert archive / Arkansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 2, NWS Little Rock, AR

January 23, 2002Newton County, Arkansas

NWS Little Rock, AR issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jan 23, 2002, 5:49 PM CST for Newton County, Arkansas. It was in force for 41 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: Jan 23, 2002, 5:49 PM CST (23:49 UTC)
Expired: Jan 23, 2002, 6:30 PM CST
In force: 41 min
Issued by: NWS Little Rock, AR
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Newton County, AR

The radar

The Springfield radar (KSGF), 133 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:49 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.

Did it verify

Not verified. The Iowa Environmental Mesonet's Cow found no qualifying storm report inside this severe thunderstorm 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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Jan 23, 4:30 PM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Springfield, MO (KSGF), launched 12:00Z, 11.8 hours before the alert went out and 108 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 1076 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 53 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 279 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 296 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 KLZK 232349
SVRLIT
ARC101-240030-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
548 PM CST WED JAN 23 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  NEWTON COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL ARKANSAS

* UNTIL 630 PM CST

* AT 546 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED   
  A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 20 MILES SOUTHWEST OF JASPER...OR ABOUT 16   
  MILES SOUTHEAST OF HUNTSVILLE...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  PONCA AROUND 600 PM CST
  WESTERN GROVE AROUND 630 PM CST

&&

A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR THE WARNED AREA. REMEMBER...SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES WITH LITTLE
OR NO ADVANCED WARNING. REMAIN CALM...BUT BE ALERT TO RAPIDLY
CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS.

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

LAT...LON 3600 9344 3607 9343 3612 9330 3612 9294
          3602 9294 3599 9302

$$

46

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 Jan 23, 4:00 PM CST, 1 hour 49 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 23, 4:00 PM CST, 1 hour 49 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
400 PM CST WED JAN 23 2002

WARM HUMID AND UNSTABLE AIR IS IN PLACE IN MOST OF THE CWA AT ISSUE
TIME WAITING FOR THE COLD FRONT AND A SHORT WAVE IN SOUTHWEST FLOW
TO ARRIVE. THUNDERSTORMS IN OKLAHOMA SHOULD REACH INTO ARKANSAS THIS
EVENING AND SHOULD SEE INCREASE IN THUNDERSTORMS EARLY TONIGHT WITH
SOME SEVERE WEATHER LIKELY. WILL HAVE LIKELY TO CATEGORICAL POPS FOR
TONIGHT WITH MENTION OF SEVERE AND HEAVY RAIN. SEVERE AND HEAVY RAIN
THREAT SHOULD BE OUT OF THE CWA BY 12Z THURSDAY AS THE COLD FRONT
SHOULD BE MOSTLY OUT OF THE AREA. TEMPS WILL LIKELY STAY WELL INTO THE
60S THROUGH THE NIGHT UNTIL THE FRONT PASSES THEN TEMPS SHOULD DROP
TO NEAR FWC MINS. CONSIDERABLE MOISTURE REMAINS ON THURSDAY AS THE MAIN
UPPER TROF HANGS OUT TO THE WEST. WILL KEEP HIGH POPS GOING THROUGH
THURSDAY...BUT THE AIR SHOULD BE COOLER AND MORE STABLE...SO
PRECIPITATION  SHOULD BE MOSTLY RAIN. ENOUGH INSTABILITY REMAINS IN
THE SOUTHEAST IN THE MORNING TO CONTINUE A MENTION OF THUNDER THERE.
TEMPS SHOULD RISE LITTLE ON THURSDAY. WILL CONTINUE POPS INTO
THURSDAY NIGHT FOR LIGHT RAIN WITH CLOUDS HOLDING IN. WILL STAY NEAR
FWC MOS FOR MINS. UPPER TROF LOOKS LIKE IT WILL PASS OVER THE AREA ON
FRIDAY. WILL KEEP SOME CLOUDS IN THROUGH FRIDAY...BUT LOOKS LIKE MOISTURE
WILL BE TOO SCARCE FOR A MENTION OF PRECIPITATION. LOWER MOS MAXES
FOR FRIDAY IN THE MID 40S TO LOWER 50S LOOK REASONABLE. DRY AND MILD
WEATHER SHOULD MOVE IN AFTER THAT INTO MONDAY. WILL INCREASE CLOUDS
SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY AND PUT IN A SLIGHT CHANCE OF RAIN FOR MONDAY
NIGHT AND EARLY TUESDAY AS ANOTHER SHORT WAVE MOVES ACROSS. ARCTIC FRONT
REACHES THE AREA ON WEDNESDAY AND WILL PUT IN A CHANCE OF RAIN FOR
THAT. LOOKS LIKE IMPACT OF ARCTIC AIR WILL REACH AREA AFTER NEXT
WEDNESDAY.

.LZK...FLASH FLOOD WATCH TONIGHT PARTS OF NORTHEAST
          ZONES 16-23>25-33-34

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jan 23, 5:25 PM CST, 24 minutes before

ARZ003>007-012>016-021>025-030>034-037>047-240400-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
525 PM CST WED JAN 23 2002

...TORNADO WATCH IN THE NORTHERN HALF OF ARKANSAS UNTIL 10 PM...

A WARM FRONT MOVED THROUGH ARKANSAS FROM THE SOUTH TODAY...WITH
VERY WARM AND UNSTABLE AIR SPREADING ACROSS THE STATE. MEANWHILE...
A STORM SYSTEM WAS FORMING IN THE SOUTHERN PLAINS...WITH AN
ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT SET TO BRING MUCH COOLER AIR INTO THE STATE
LATER TONIGHT. AHEAD OF THE SYSTEM...SCATTERED STRONG TO SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS WERE ALREADY DEVELOPING NORTH AND WEST OF LITTLE ROCK.

A TORNADO WATCH HAS BEEN POSTED ACROSS THE NORTHERN HALF OF
ARKANSAS THROUGH 10 PM. THE WATCH INCLUDES AREAS NORTH OF
MENA...LITTLE ROCK AND BRINKLEY.

IN THE WATCH AREA...STORMS THAT BECOME SEVERE WILL PRODUCE
DIME SIZE HAIL OR LARGER AND STRONG TO DAMAGING WINDS...WITH
ISOLATED TORNADOES POSSIBLE.

LATER TONIGHT...THE STORM SYSTEM IN THE SOUTHERN PLAINS AND
ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT WILL PUSH INTO ARKANSAS...WITH ADDITIONAL
SEVERE WEATHER EXPECTED.

PEOPLE ACROSS ARKANSAS ARE ADVISED TO PREPARE FOR SEVERE WEATHER
TONIGHT. BE READY TO FIND A PLACE OF SAFETY IF A WARNING IS ISSUED
FOR YOUR AREA.

46

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jan 23, 3:36 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LZK	Logan, Scott	39 min
Jan 23, 4:15 PM CST	Tornado Warning	LZK	Johnson, Logan	35 min
Jan 23, 4:34 PM CST	Tornado Warning	LZK	Pope	41 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Arkansas, 2002 Every 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.