Alert archive / Arkansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2003

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 512, NWS Little Rock, AR

December 22, 2003Faulkner County, Arkansas

NWS Little Rock, AR issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Dec 22, 2003, 9:01 PM CST for Faulkner County, Arkansas. It was in force for 44 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: Dec 22, 2003, 9:01 PM CST (03:01 UTC)
Expired: Dec 22, 2003, 9:45 PM CST
In force: 44 min
Issued by: NWS Little Rock, AR
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Faulkner County, AR

The radar

The Little Rock radar (KLZK), 35 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:03 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 00:00Z, 3.0 hours before the alert went out and 235 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: 33 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -35 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 707 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 44 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 122 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 153 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 Dec 22, 8:55 PM CST, 6 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 22, 8:55 PM CST, 6 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
855 PM CST MON DEC 22 2003

SEVERE WEATHER STARTING TO CRANK UP SO DISCUSSION WILL BE BRIEF
TONIGHT. SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER ONE HAS EXPIRED OVER THE
WEST WHILE AS NEW WATCH FOR THE SOUTHWEST WILL CONTINUE UNTIL 1 AM.
LATEST SURFACE ANALYSIS PLACES SURFACE LOW PRESSURE OVER OVER
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS WITH ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT ALONG THE ARKANSAS AND
OKLAHOMA BORDER.

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS STILL EXPECTED TO SWEEP ACROSS THE STATE
OVERNIGHT SO CURRENT FORECAST LOOKS REASONABLE. THREAT OF SEVERE
WEATHER WILL WANE WITH TIME AS STORMS SHOULD BECOME MORE ELEVATED
WITH TIME AND RUN INTO A MUCH LESS FAVORABLE ENVIRONMENT. BEST
INSTABILITY NOW OVER THE SOUTHWEST PROMPTING THER NEW WATCH. WILL
TWEAK THE GRIDS/ZONE TO REFLECT CURRENT TRENDS. REMAINDER OF THE
FORECAST LOOKS GOOD.

56

Hazardous weather outlook, Dec 22, 9:00 PM CST, 1 minute before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
900 PM CST MON DEC 22 2003

ARZ003>007-012>016-021>025-030>034-037>047-052>057-062>069-231100-
ARKANSAS-BAXTER-BOONE-BRADLEY-CALHOUN-CLARK-CLEBURNE-CLEVELAND-
CONWAY-DALLAS-DESHA-DREW-FAULKNER-FULTON-GARLAND-GRANT-HOT SPRING-
INDEPENDENCE-IZARD-JACKSON-JEFFERSON-JOHNSON-LINCOLN-LOGAN-
LONOKE-MARION-MONROE-MONTGOMERY-NEWTON-OUACHITA-PERRY-PIKE-
POLK-POPE-PRAIRIE-PULASKI-SALINE-SCOTT-SEARCY-SHARP-STONE-
VAN BUREN-WHITE-WOODRUFF-YELL-
900 PM CST MON DEC 22 2003

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

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT

A VIGOROUS UPPER LEVEL LOW WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE ACROSS ARKANSAS.
THIS WILL CONTINUE TO TRIGGER THE DEVELOPMENT OF SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS OVERNIGHT UNTIL EARLY TUESDAY MORNING.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY

THE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM AND ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT WILL SHIFT EAST OF
ARKANSAS ON TUESDAY. RAIN AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS WILL LINGER BEHIND
THE FRONT TUESDAY MORNING. RAIN CHANCES WILL DIMINISH FROM THE WEST
TUESDAY AFTERNOON AS DRIER AIR BUILDS IN ON NORTHWEST WINDS.

THE NEXT CHANCE OF RAIN WILL BE OVER THE WEEKEND AS ANOTHER STORM
SYSTEM APPROACHES ARKANSAS FROM THE PLAINS STATES.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED THIS EVENING.

38

In the hours before

Local storm report, Dec 22, 8:38 PM CST, 23 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
838 PM CST MON DEC 22 2003

..TIME...   ...EVENT...     ...CITY LOCATION...      ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....     ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0823 PM     HAIL             ATKINS                  35.24N 92.95W
12/22/2003  1.75 INCH        POPE               AR   AMATEUR RADIO

            GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL REPORTED ALONG I-40 IN ATKINS

&&

56

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Dec 22, 7:55 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LZK	Van Buren	30 min
Dec 22, 8:21 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LZK	Conway, Pope	29 min
Dec 22, 8:29 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LZK	Scott	31 min
Dec 22, 8:43 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LZK	Clark	32 min
Dec 22, 9:08 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LZK	Polk	47 min
Dec 22, 9:43 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LZK	Cleburne	42 min
Dec 22, 10:04 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LZK	Pope	31 min
Dec 22, 10:14 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LZK	Independence	46 min
Dec 22, 10:31 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LZK	Conway, Van Buren	29 min
Dec 23, 1:15 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LZK	Bradley, Calhoun	45 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Arkansas, 2003 Every 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.