Alert archive / Arkansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2003

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 125, NWS Little Rock, AR

May 3, 2003Johnson County, Arkansas

NWS Little Rock, AR issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 3, 2003, 6:16 PM CDT for Johnson County, Arkansas. It was in force for 29 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 3, 2003, 6:16 PM CDT (23:16 UTC)
Expired
May 3, 2003, 6:45 PM CDT
In force
29 min
Issued by
NWS Little Rock, AR
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Johnson County, AR

The radar

The Western Arkansas radar (KSRX), 87 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:20 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 nearest sounding before it

Shreveport, LA (KSHV), launched 12:00Z, 11.3 hours before the alert went out and 345 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Shreveport, LA at 12:00Z on 2003-05-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2724 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Shreveport, LA at 12:00Z on 2003-05-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 52 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
2724 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-17 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
605 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
52 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
102 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
6.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Little Rock, AR wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at May 3, 4:00 PM CDT, 2 hours 16 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 3, 4:00 PM CDT, 2 hours 16 minutes before
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Hazardous weather outlook, May 3, 5:00 AM CDT, 13 hours 16 minutes before
ARZ003>007-012>016-021>025-030>034-037>047-052>057-062>069-041000-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
500 AM CDT SAT MAY 3 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR A LARGE PART OF ARKANSAS.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

A FRONT WAS NEARLY STATIONARY NEAR THE ARKANSAS AND LOUISIANA BORDER
THIS MORNING. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS NORTH OF THE FRONT
WILL DISSIPATE DURING THE MORNING HOURS...WITH A MOSTLY DRY DAY
AHEAD.

THE FRONT WILL BEGIN TO MOVE NORTHWARD TONIGHT. A SYSTEM ALOFT FROM
THE PLAINS WILL INTERACT WITH THE FRONT...WITH THUNDERSTORMS REDEVELOPING
MAINLY ACROSS NORTHERN AND CENTRAL ARKANSAS. IT APPEARS THAT LARGE
HAIL WILL BE THE MAIN SEVERE WEATHER THREAT TONIGHT.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY

ON SUNDAY...THE FRONT MOVING NORTHWARD THROUGH ARKANSAS WILL
EXIT THE STATE WITH THUNDERSTORMS LINGERING DURING THE MORNING
HOURS. SOUTH OF THE FRONT...SLIGHTLY WARMER...MORE HUMID AND UNSTABLE
AIR WILL BE NOTED. A STORM SYSTEM IN THE PLAINS WILL INTENSIFY AND
WILL DRAG A COLD FRONT TOWARD ARKANSAS. AHEAD OF THE FRONT...
THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO REDEVELOP WITH SEVERE WEATHER
LIKELY SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND NIGHT.

AT THIS TIME...IT APPEARS THAT THE SEVERE WEATHER ON SUNDAY COULD
BE WIDESPREAD. LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS AND TORNADOES ARE ALL
POSSIBLE. PEOPLE ACROSS ARKANSAS SHOULD MONITOR FORECAST
INFORMATION CLOSELY TO KEEP TRACK OF THIS DEVELOPING SITUATION.

THE COLD FRONT PUSHING INTO ARKANSAS FROM THE PLAINS WILL STALL
ACROSS THE REGION THROUGH MUCH OF THE UPCOMING WEEK. SYSTEMS
WILL CONTINUE ARRIVING FROM THE PLAINS...AND WILL JOIN WITH
THE FRONT TO TRIGGER SEVERAL ROUNDS OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
THROUGH AT LEAST THURSDAY.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS POSSIBLE ACROSS NORTHERN AND CENTRAL
ARKANSAS TONIGHT. ACTIVATION IS LIKELY ACROSS MUCH OF THE
STATE ON SUNDAY...ESPECIALLY DURING THE AFTERNOON AND OVERNIGHT
HOURS.

46

The office that day

Everything else NWS Little Rock, AR issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 2, 9:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKPike46 min
May 2, 11:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKOuachita39 min
May 2, 11:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKMontgomery32 min
May 3, 12:57 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKFaulkner, Pulaski43 min
May 3, 1:04 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKLonoke36 min
May 3, 1:08 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKPrairie37 min
May 3, 1:25 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKSaline35 min
May 3, 1:28 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKWoodruff32 min
May 3, 1:39 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKLonoke, White31 min
May 3, 1:42 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKJefferson, Lonoke33 min
May 3, 1:56 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKFaulkner29 min
May 3, 2:09 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKWhite31 min
May 3, 2:13 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKJohnson32 min
May 3, 2:24 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKArkansas, Monroe21 min
May 3, 2:38 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKWoodruff37 min
May 3, 5:43 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKMonroe, Prairie27 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Arkansas, 2003Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2003

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.