Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 40, NWS Memphis, TN

December 18, 2002St. Francis County, Arkansas

NWS Memphis, TN issued this tornado warning at Dec 18, 2002, 9:13 PM CST for St. Francis County, Arkansas. It was in force for 47 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: Dec 18, 2002, 9:13 PM CST (03:13 UTC)
Expired: Dec 18, 2002, 10:00 PM CST
In force: 47 min
Issued by: NWS Memphis, TN
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County St. Francis County, AR

The radar

The Memphis radar (KNQA), 90 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:14 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.

The watch it was issued in

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

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Dec 18, 9:05 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 77 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: 605 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 57 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -131 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: -27 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.

215 
WFUS54 KMEG 190313
TORMEM
ARC123-190400-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
912 PM CST WED DEC 18 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  ST. FRANCIS COUNTY IN EASTERN ARKANSAS

* UNTIL 1000 PM CST.

* AT 908 PM CST...WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 7 MILES SOUTH OF
  PALESTINE...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH.

* CITIES IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO THROUGH 1000 PM CST INCLUDE...
  PALESTINE...
  MADISON...FORREST CITY...
  WIDENER...
  NEW HOME...

.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 3490 9104 3489 9070 3512 9040 3515 9066

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Dec 18, 6:00 PM CST	Tornado Warning	MEG	Cross, Poinsett	45 min
Dec 18, 6:14 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Clay, Greene	46 min
Dec 18, 6:31 PM CST	Tornado Warning	MEG	Phillips	44 min
Dec 18, 7:41 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Cross	49 min
Dec 18, 7:47 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	St. Francis	43 min
Dec 18, 8:58 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Crittenden	32 min
Dec 18, 9:16 PM CST	Tornado Warning	MEG	Lee, Phillips	59 min
Dec 18, 10:01 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Crittenden	59 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.