Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Watches in 2002

Tornado Watch 3

January 23, 200243 counties in Arkansas

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Jan 23, 2002, 4:30 PM CST for 43 counties in Arkansas. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Jan 23, 2002, 4:30 PM CST (22:30 UTC)
Expired: Jan 23, 2002, 10:00 PM CST
In force: 6 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 43 counties

Baxter County, AR, Clay County, AR, Cleburne County, AR, Conway County, AR, Craighead County, AR, Crawford County, AR, Crittenden County, AR, Cross County, AR, Faulkner County, AR, Franklin County, AR, Garland County, AR, Greene County, AR, Independence County, AR, Izard County, AR, Jackson County, AR, Johnson County, AR, Lawrence County, AR, Lee County, AR, Logan County, AR, Lonoke County, AR, Madison County, AR, Marion County, AR, Montgomery County, AR, Newton County, AR, Perry County, AR, Poinsett County, AR, Polk County, AR, Pope County, AR, Prairie County, AR, Pulaski County, AR, Randolph County, AR, Saline County, AR, Scott County, AR, Searcy County, AR, Sebastian County, AR, Sharp County, AR, St. Francis County, AR, Stone County, AR, Van Buren County, AR, Washington County, AR, White County, AR, Woodruff County, AR, Yell County, AR

The radar

The Little Rock radar (KLZK), 93 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:32 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.

Warnings issued inside it

14 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jan 23, 4:34 PM CST	Tornado Warning	LZK	Pope	41 min
Jan 23, 5:40 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Madison	35 min
Jan 23, 5:49 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LZK	Newton	41 min
Jan 23, 6:41 PM CST	Tornado Warning	LZK	Marion	39 min
Jan 23, 6:55 PM CST	Tornado Warning	LZK	Baxter	40 min
Jan 23, 7:03 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LZK	Johnson	42 min
Jan 23, 7:35 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LZK	Scott	35 min
Jan 23, 7:50 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LZK	Pope	25 min
Jan 23, 8:01 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LZK	Yell	44 min
Jan 23, 8:10 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LZK	Searcy, Van Buren	35 min
Jan 23, 8:34 PM CST	Tornado Warning	LZK	Stone, Van Buren	41 min
Jan 23, 9:00 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LZK	Izard	40 min
Jan 23, 9:16 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LZK	Cleburne, Van Buren	44 min
Jan 23, 9:49 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LZK	Independence	36 min

The nearest sounding before it

Springfield, MO (KSGF), launched 12:00Z, 10.5 hours before the alert went out and 175 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 
WWUS20 KWNS 232226
SEL3  
SPC WW 232223
ARZ000-240400-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 3
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
423 PM CST WED JAN 23 2002

THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF

   NORTH ARKANSAS                           

EFFECTIVE THIS WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 430 PM UNTIL
1000 PM CST.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 80 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 60 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND
SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 10 MILES SOUTH SOUTHWEST OF FORT SMITH
ARKANSAS TO 25 MILES EAST SOUTHEAST OF JONESBORO ARKANSAS.

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. 
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...  CONTINUE...WW 2...

DISCUSSION...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP RAPIDLY EWD
ACROSS NRN AR WHERE AIRMASS HAS BECOME MODERATELY UNSTABLE IN A
FAVORABLY SHEAR ENVIRONMENT FOR SUPERCELLS. ISOLATED TORNADIC
SUPERCELLS ARE LIKELY ALONG WITH DAMAGING WINDS WITH STORMS THAT
DEVELOP INTO SHORT LINES/BOWS IN THE STRONG SHEAR ENVIRONMENT.


AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 INCHES.  EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS.  A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500. 
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24035.


...HALES

360,0942 363,0901 344,0901 341,0942

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Arkansas, 2002 Every tornado watch 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.