Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Watches in 2002
Tornado Watch 782
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Dec 18, 2002, 7:20 AM CST for 18 counties in Arkansas; 18 counties in Missouri; Latimer County, LeFlore County, Sequoyah County, Oklahoma. It was in force for 6 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Dec 18, 2002, 7:20 AM CST (13:20 UTC)
- Expired
- Dec 18, 2002, 1:00 PM CST
- In force
- 6 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 39 counties
Baxter County, AR, Boone County, AR, Carroll County, AR, Crawford County, AR, Franklin County, AR, Fulton County, AR, Johnson County, AR, Logan County, AR, Madison County, AR, Marion County, AR, Newton County, AR, Pope County, AR, Scott County, AR, Searcy County, AR, Sebastian County, AR, Van Buren County, AR, Washington County, AR, Yell County, AR, Christian County, MO, Dent County, MO, Douglas County, MO, Howell County, MO, Iron County, MO, Laclede County, MO, Oregon County, MO, Ozark County, MO, Phelps County, MO, Pulaski County, MO, Reynolds County, MO, Saint Francois County, MO, Shannon County, MO, Stone County, MO, Taney County, MO, Texas County, MO, Webster County, MO, Wright County, MO, Latimer County, OK, LeFlore County, OK, Sequoyah County, OK
The radar
The Western Arkansas radar (KSRX), 116 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 13:22 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
2 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 18, 9:04 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | SGF | Webster, Wright | 41 min |
| Dec 18, 9:34 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Boone | 31 min |
The nearest sounding before it
Springfield, MO (KSGF), launched 12:00Z, 1.3 hours before the alert went out and 106 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 894 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -3 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 549 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 69 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 425 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 449 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 2.4
- Supercell composite
- 8.2
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 WWUS20 KWNS 181325 SEL2 SPC WW 181320 ARZ000-MOZ000-OKZ000-181900- URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 782 STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 720 AM CST WED DEC 18 2002 THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHWEST AND NORTH-CENTRAL ARKANSAS SOUTHERN MISSOURI EAST-CENTRAL OKLAHOMA EFFECTIVE THIS WEDNESDAY MORNING AND AFTERNOON FROM 720 AM UNTIL 100 PM CST. TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS. THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 65 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 40 MILES SOUTH OF FORT SMITH ARKANSAS TO 40 MILES EAST NORTHEAST OF FORT LEONARD WOOD MISSOURI. 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...THIS TORNADO WATCH REPLACES SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 780. WATCH NUMBER 780 WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER 720 AM CST. CONTINUE...WW 781... DISCUSSION... APPEARS SUBTLE SHORTWAVE TROUGH EJECTING NEWD ACROSS OK IN WV IMAGERY WILL SUPPORT FURTHER CONVECTION OVER THIS REGION DURING THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS. COMBINATION OF SHEAR AND INSTABILITY REMAIN FAVORABLE FOR TORNADIC SUPERCELLS...WITH SR-HELICITY IN EXCESS OF 300-400 M2/S2 AND SBCAPES AROUND 1000 J/KG. 12Z AT SGF INDICATED VERY LITTLE CAPPING...ONCE TEMPERATURES WARM INTO THE MID 60S AND DEW POINTS HOLD AROUND 60F. AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24045. ...EVANS 375,0901 344,0931 344,0953 375,0923
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 17, 7:35 PM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Benton, Boone, Carroll, Madison, Marion, Newton and 1 more | 5 hr |
| Dec 17, 10:40 PM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Benton, Carroll, Washington | 5 hr |
| Dec 18, 3:30 AM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Benton | 5 hr |
| Dec 18, 1:10 PM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Arkansas, Ashley, Bradley, Calhoun, Clark, Cleveland and 26 more | 8 hr |
| Dec 18, 2:30 PM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Baxter, Clay, Cleburne, Conway, Craighead, Crittenden and 18 more | 7 hr |
| Dec 18, 5:50 PM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Chicot, Crittenden, Desha, Lee, Mississippi, Phillips and 1 more | 3 hr |
| Dec 18, 2:15 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Adair, Bates, Buchanan, Caldwell, Carroll, Cass and 29 more | 6 hr |
| Dec 18, 9:30 AM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Adair, Audrain, Barton, Benton, Boone, Callaway and 33 more | 6 hr |
| Dec 18, 4:35 PM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Crawford, Dent, Franklin, Gasconade, Jefferson, Laclede and 14 more | 5 hr |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Arkansas, 2002Tornado Watches in Missouri, 2002Tornado Watches in Oklahoma, 2002Every 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.