Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 11, NWS Tulsa, OK

May 9, 2002Crawford County, Sebastian County, Arkansas

NWS Tulsa, OK issued this tornado warning at May 9, 2002, 3:35 AM CDT for Crawford County, Sebastian County, Arkansas. It was in force for 55 min. 4 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: May 9, 2002, 3:35 AM CDT (08:35 UTC)
Expired: May 9, 2002, 4:30 AM CDT
In force: 55 min
Issued by: NWS Tulsa, OK
Area: Whole counties

Counties Crawford County, AR, Sebastian County, AR

The radar

The Western Arkansas radar (KSRX), 15 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 08:39 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
May 9, 3:52 AM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 52 E	Van Buren, AR
May 9, 4:00 AM CDT	Hail 1	Ft Smith, AR
May 9, 4:05 AM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 52 E	Ft Smith, AR
May 9, 4:07 AM CDT	Hail 1.25	Greenwood, AR

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
May 9, 1:15 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Springfield, MO (KSGF), launched 00:00Z, 8.6 hours before the alert went out and 172 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: 1675 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -36 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 811 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 53 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 285 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 375 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 2.9
Supercell composite: 13.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS54 KTSA 090835
TORTUL
ARC033-131-090930-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
335 AM CDT THU MAY 9 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TULSA HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR
  CRAWFORD COUNTY IN NORTHWEST ARKANSAS
  SEBASTIAN COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL ARKANSAS

* UNTIL 430 AM CDT

* AT 335 AM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A DEVELOPING TORNADO 20
  MILES WEST OF FORT SMITH. THIS DANGEROUS STORM IS MOVING EAST AT 45
  MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE...FORT SMITH...
  HACKETT...GREENWOOD...BARLING...LAVACA...BURNVILLE...EXCELSIOR...
  BONANZA...JENNY LIND...BLOOMER...VAN BUREN...ALMA...CEDARVILLE...
  DYER...FIGURE FIVE AND RUDY.

IF YOU ARE IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM...TAKE COVER NOW IF NO
UNDERGROUND SHELTER IS AVAILABLE MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE
LOWEST FLOOR. MOBILE HOMES AND VEHICLES SHOULD BE ABANDONED FOR MORE
SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. AVOID WINDOWS

THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS STORM. IF YOU ARE NEAR ITS PATH YOU SHOULD
PREPARE FOR LARGE DAMAGING HAIL...VIOLENT STRAIGHT LINE WINDS AND
POSSIBLY A TORNADO. IF NO UNDERGROUND SHELTER IS AVAILABLE TAKE COVER
ON THE LOWEST FLOOR IN AN INTERIOR ROOM AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

NIGHTTIME TORNADOES ARE ESPECIALLY DANGEROUS - TAKE COVER NOW IF YOU
WAIT UNTIL YOU SEE OR HEAR IT COMING...IT MAY BE TOO LATE TO GET TO A
SAFE PLACE

DO NOT TAKE SHELTER UNDER HIGHWAY OVERPASSES

$$

DRM

LAT...LON 3561 9446 3515 9444 3511 9414 3561 9408

The office that day

Everything else NWS Tulsa, OK issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 8, 11:40 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Benton, Carroll, Madison, Washington	65 min
May 9, 12:44 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Carroll, Madison, Washington	61 min
May 9, 2:45 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Benton, Washington	45 min
May 9, 4:09 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Franklin	66 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.