Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 19, NWS Memphis, TN

November 9, 2002Cross County, Arkansas

NWS Memphis, TN issued this tornado warning at Nov 9, 2002, 9:09 PM CST for Cross County, Arkansas. It was in force for 51 min. 2 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: Nov 9, 2002, 9:09 PM CST (03:09 UTC)
Expired: Nov 9, 2002, 10:00 PM CST
In force: 51 min
Issued by: NWS Memphis, TN
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Cross County, AR

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Nov 9, 9:15 PM CST	Tornado F2	Twist, AR	The tornado touched down just southwest of Twist and moved northeast and later moved into Crittenden County. Some farm buildings were damaged. Several trees and power poles were blown down.
Nov 9, 9:23 PM CST	Tornado F2	Earle, AR	The tornado moved into Crittenden county from Cross county and continued to move northeast. The tornado produced some damage near the town of Heafer. A mobile home and 2 farm shops were destroyed. A church and parsonage, three mobile homes and five houses were

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 9, 6:20 PM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 00:00Z, 3.2 hours before the alert went out and 87 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: 1221 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -6 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 892 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 56 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 349 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 448 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 2.9
Supercell composite: 12.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

365 
WFUS54 KMEG 100309
TORMEM
ARC037-100400-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
908 PM CST SAT NOV 9 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  CROSS COUNTY IN EASTERN ARKANSAS

* UNTIL 1000 PM CST.

* AT 905 PM CST...WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 7 MILES SOUTHEAST
  OF CHERRY VALLEY...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 60 MPH.

* CITIES IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO THROUGH 1000 PM CST INCLUDE...
CHERRY VALLEY

.IF YOU ARE NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO...TAKE COVER IN AN INTERIOR
ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. PROTECT YOUR BODY FROM FLYING DEBRIS.

.STAY TUNED TO THIS NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROADCAST FOR THE LATEST
UPDATES AND INFORMATION. TO REPORT SEVERE WEATHER ONLY...CALL 1 800 4
3 2 0 8 7 5.

LAT...LON 3540 9080 3523 9071 3529 9048 3544 9051

The office that day

Everything else NWS Memphis, TN issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Nov 9, 6:39 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Clay, Greene	36 min
Nov 9, 8:34 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Cross	26 min
Nov 9, 9:23 PM CST	Tornado Warning	MEG	Crittenden, Cross	22 min
Nov 9, 9:44 PM CST	Tornado Warning	MEG	Crittenden, Mississippi	31 min
Nov 9, 10:00 PM CST	Tornado Warning	MEG	Mississippi	30 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Arkansas, 2002 Every tornado warning in 2002 Tornadoes 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.