Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 39, NWS Little Rock, AR

May 8, 2003Johnson County, Arkansas

NWS Little Rock, AR issued this tornado warning at May 8, 2003, 8:15 AM CDT for Johnson 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 outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: May 8, 2003, 8:15 AM CDT (13:15 UTC)
Expired: May 8, 2003, 9:00 AM CDT
In force: 45 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), 98 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 13:16 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, 1.3 hours before the alert went out and 152 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: 41 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -340 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1727 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 64 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 501 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 564 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

030 
WFUS54 KLZK 081315
TORLIT
ARC071-081400-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
815 AM CDT THU MAY 8 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LITTLE ROCK HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  JOHNSON COUNTY IN WESTERN ARKANSAS

* UNTIL 900 AM CDT

* AT 811 AM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO OVER WEST CENTRAL JOHNSON COUNTY...OR ABOUT 7 MILES
  NORTHWEST OF CLARKSVILLE...MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
HAGARVILLE AROUND 830 AM CDT

&&

A DOPPLER RADAR DETECTED TORNADO MEANS THERE IS STRONG ROTATION
WITHIN A STORM. THE STORM MAY NOT BE PRODUCING A TORNADO AT THE
MOMENT...BUT IS EXPECTED TO DURING THE WARNING PERIOD. FOR YOUR
SAFETY...GO INDOORS NOW TO AN INTERIOR ROOM AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

REPORT SEVERE WEATHER TO THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY. THEY
WILL RELAY YOUR REPORT TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST
OFFICE IN LITTLE ROCK.

LAT...LON 3569 9317 3561 9317 3560 9322 3555 9322
          3548 9326 3547 9357 3553 9365 3561 9365

$$

44

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 8, 6:44 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LZK	Scott	46 min
May 8, 7:55 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LZK	Johnson	45 min
May 8, 8:36 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LZK	Pope	44 min
May 8, 8:56 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	LZK	Pope	49 min
May 8, 9:42 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LZK	Searcy, Van Buren	43 min
May 8, 10:04 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	LZK	Van Buren	61 min
May 8, 10:30 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LZK	Cleburne, Stone	60 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Arkansas, 2003 Every tornado warning in 2003 Tornadoes 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.