Alert archive / Arkansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2003

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 445, NWS Little Rock, AR

August 18, 2003Searcy County, Arkansas

NWS Little Rock, AR issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 18, 2003, 5:10 PM CDT for Searcy County, Arkansas. It was in force for 45 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
Aug 18, 2003, 5:10 PM CDT (22:10 UTC)
Expired
Aug 18, 2003, 5:55 PM CDT
In force
45 min
Issued by
NWS Little Rock, AR
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Searcy County, AR

The radar

The Little Rock radar (KLZK), 126 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:12 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

Springfield, MO (KSGF), launched 12:00Z, 10.2 hours before the alert went out and 148 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, Springfield, MO at 12:00Z on 2003-08-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 863 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, Springfield, MO at 12:00Z on 2003-08-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -2 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
863 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-105 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1899 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
8 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-2 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
25 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

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 Aug 18, 3:07 PM CDT, 2 hours 3 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 18, 3:07 PM CDT, 2 hours 3 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
307 PM CDT MON AUG 18 2003

.SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY...
BIGGEST CHALLENGES IN THE SHORT TERM LIE WITH TEMPERATURES AND
ANTICIPATED HEAT INDEX VALUES. UPPER RIDGE WILL REMAIN ANCHORED OVER
THE MID AND UPPER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY...KEEPING WARM SOUTHERLY FLOW
OVER US. FRONTAL BOUNDARY CURRENTLY NEAR MO BOOTHEEL/WRN TENNESSEE
WILL WOBBLE AROUND FOR A DAY OR SO BEFORE IT WASHES OUT OVER THE
OHIO VALLEY...HAVING MINIMAL INFLUENCE ON OUR SENSIBLE WEATHER.

WILL CONTINUE A CHANCE OF AFTERNOON AND EVENING SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS IN THE SHORT TERM...AS BOUNDARY LAYER REMAINS RATHER
MOIST. ONCE DAYTIME HEATING KICKS IN...WIDELY SCATTERED SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS WILL BEGIN TO DEVELOP...DISSIPATING AROUND OR SHORTLY
AFTER SUNSET.

STRONG UPPER TROUGH WILL MOVE DOWN OUT OF THE ROCKIES BY MIDWEEK.
THIS WILL GIVE THE RIDGE A NUDGE AWAY FROM THE AREA...BRINGING MORE
CLOUDS...SLIGHTLY COOLER TEMPERATURES...AND A LITTLE BETTER CHANCE
FOR RAIN.

GUIDANCE CONTINUES TO BE REASONABLE IN MOST AREAS...SO A GENERAL
BLEND IS IN ORDER. MET IS RUNNING A LITTLE HOT IN SOME PLACES...SO
TENDED TO GO A LITTLE BELOW THESE NUMBERS. HEAT INDEX VALUES WILL
CONTINUE TO RANGE FROM 100 TO 105 FOR TUESDAY OVER THE NORTH...WHILE
VALUES OVER THE SOUTH WILL RANGE FROM 105 TO 115. FOR THIS REASON...
WILL CONTINUE A HEAT ADVISORY THROUGH TUESDAY FOR CENTRAL AND
SOUTHERN ARKANSAS. 57.

.LONG TERM...THURSDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY...
A COLD FRONT IN THE NORTHERN PLAINS WILL SLIDE SOUTHWARD AND MOVE
THROUGH ARKANSAS FRIDAY AND FRIDAY NIGHT. A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS IS EXPECTED FRIDAY AS THE FRONT MOVES SOUTH. THE
PRECIPITATION WILL DISSIPATE OVERNIGHT FRIDAY NIGHT AS THE FRONT
MOVES OUT OF THE STATE AND STALLS ACROSS MISSISSIPPI.

HIGH PRESSURE WILL MOVE INTO THE AREA AT THE SURFACE AND DRY THE
ATMOSPHERE OUT A BIT. LOWER DEW POINTS AND SLIGHTLY COOLER
TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED FOR THE WEEKEND. THE STALLED FRONT WILL
THEN MOVE BACK TO THE NORTH LATE MONDAY BRINGING ANOTHER SLIGHT
CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO THE AREA BY MONDAY
EVENING...ESPECIALLY THE SOUTHEAST. 51.

FCSTID =   57/51
HRO   73  95  73  94 /  20  20  20  20
LIT   75  97  75  96 /  20  20  20  20
HOT   76  98  75  97 /  20  20  20  20
PBF   76  98  74  96 /  20  20  20  20

.LZK...
AR...HEAT ADVISORY FOR TONIGHT AND TUESDAY FOR ZONES ARZ021>022...
ARZ030>034...ARZ037>047...ARZ052>057...ARZ062>069.
Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 18, 4:30 PM CDT, 40 minutes before
ARZ003>007-012>016-021>025-030>034-037>047-052>057-062>069-191000-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
430 PM CDT MON AUG 18 2003

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

.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT

HOT TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN ACROSS ARKANSAS THROUGH THE
AFTERNOON...WITH HEAT INDICES BETWEEN 105 AND 110 DEGREES. A HEAT
ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT THIS AFTERNOON FOR THE CENTRAL AND
SOUTHERN TWO THIRDS OF THE STATE. THIS ABUNDANCE OF HEAT AND
HUMIDITY IS INTERACTING WITH A BOUNDARY OVER THE STATE. SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...MAINLY
OVER PORTIONS IN THE NORTHWESTERN HALF OF THE STATE. ISOLATED STORMS
MAY REACH SEVERE LIMITS. THE MAIN CONCERNS WITH THESE STORMS ARE
HEAVY RAIN...GUSTY WINDS OVER 30 MPH...AND ISOLATED LARGE HAIL.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY

THE WEATHER PATTERN WILL NOT CHANGE MUCH THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF THE
UPCOMING WEEK. HOT AND MOSTLY DRY WEATHER IS IN THE FORECAST. HEAT
INDEX VALUES WILL RANGE FROM 105 TO 110 DEGREES IN CENTRAL AND
SOUTHERN ARKANSAS ON TUESDAY WITH A HEAT ADVISORY REMAINING IN
EFFECT. THUNDERSTORMS WILL REMAIN ISOLATED THROUGH WEDNESDAY.
BY THURSDAY OR FRIDAY...A COLD FRONT WILL ARRIVE FROM THE PLAINS.
PRECIPITATION CHANCES WILL INCREASE A BIT...WITH SLIGHTLY COOLER
WEATHER TO END THE WEEK.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING IN
PORTIONS OF ARKANSAS...MAINLY IN THE NORTHWESTERN HALF.

58

In the hours before

Local storm report, Aug 18, 2:50 PM CDT, 2 hours 20 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
250 PM CDT MON AUG 18 2003

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0240 PM    LITTLE ROCK               AR   WIND DAMAGE
08/18/03   PULASKI                        TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN
                                          IN THE AREA OF W. MARKHAM
                                          AND VAN BUREN. REPORTED BY
                                          LITTLE ROCK CENTRAL
                                          COMMUNICATIONS. ALSO PUBLIC
                                          REPORTED LARGE LIMBS DOWN
                                          IN THE HEIGHTS.

0240 PM    LITTLE ROCK               AR   .75 INCH HAIL
08/18/03   PULASKI                        REPORTED BY PUBLIC IN THE
                                          HEIGHTS.

28
Local storm report, Aug 18, 3:14 PM CDT, 1 hour 56 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
314 PM CDT MON AUG 18 2003

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0230 PM    GAMALIEL                  AR   .75 INCH HAIL
08/18/03   BAXTER                         REPORTED BY
                                          POST OFFICE.

28

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 18, 2:08 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKPulaski42 min
Aug 18, 2:22 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKBaxter28 min
Aug 18, 2:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKBaxter60 min
Aug 18, 5:41 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKVan Buren29 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.