Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 41, NWS Memphis, TN

December 18, 2002Lee County, Phillips County, Arkansas

NWS Memphis, TN issued this tornado warning at Dec 18, 2002, 9:16 PM CST for Lee County, Phillips County, Arkansas. It was in force for 59 min. 1 report 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: Dec 18, 2002, 9:16 PM CST (03:16 UTC)
Expired: Dec 18, 2002, 10:15 PM CST
In force: 59 min
Issued by: NWS Memphis, TN
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Lee County, AR, Phillips County, AR

The radar

The Little Rock radar (KLZK), 118 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:18 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
Dec 18, 9:30 PM CST	Tornado F0	Aubrey, AR	A tornado briefly touched down in Aubrey which produced some property damage.

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
Dec 18, 9:05 PM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 00:00Z, 3.3 hours before the alert went out and 97 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.

000 
WFUS54 KMEG 190316
TORMEM
ARC077-107-190415-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  LEE COUNTY IN EASTERN ARKANSAS
  PHILLIPS COUNTY IN EASTERN ARKANSAS

* UNTIL 1015 PM CST.

* AT 909 PM CST...WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 17 MILES         
  SOUTHWEST OF MARVELL...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH.  ALSO AT 909 PM 
  CST DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED ANOTHER TORNADO 7 MILES SOUTH OF       
  PALESTINE...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH.

* CITIES IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO THROUGH 1015 PM CST INCLUDE...
  MARVELL...
  RONDO...AUBREY...
  LAGRANGE...
  MARIANNA...
  HAYNES...

.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 3451 9130 3437 9115 3477 9051 3490 9071
          3487 9099

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, 9:13 PM CST	Tornado Warning	MEG	St. Francis	47 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.