Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 115, NWS Memphis, TN

May 16, 2003Poinsett County, Arkansas

NWS Memphis, TN issued this tornado warning at May 16, 2003, 6:23 PM CDT for Poinsett County, Arkansas. It was in force for 52 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 16, 2003, 6:23 PM CDT (23:23 UTC)
Expired: May 16, 2003, 7:15 PM CDT
In force: 52 min
Issued by: NWS Memphis, TN
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Poinsett County, AR

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 16, 2:50 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	7 hr
May 16, 5:45 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 12:00Z, 11.4 hours before the alert went out and 99 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: 1736 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -60 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 734 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 50 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 222 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.7
Supercell composite: 4.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS54 KMEG 162323
TORMEM
ARC111-170015-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
623 PM CDT FRI MAY 16 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  POINSETT COUNTY IN EASTERN ARKANSAS

* UNTIL 715 PM CDT.

* AT 619 PM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 9 MILES SOUTHWEST
  OF HARRISBURG...MOVING EAST AT 45 MPH.

* CITIES IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO THROUGH 715 PM CDT INCLUDE...
  HARRISBURG...
  MARKED TREE...TYRONZA...
  LEPANTO...

.IF YOU ARE NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO...TAKE COVER IN AN INTERIOR
ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. PROTECT YOUR BODY FROM FLYING DEBRIS.

.IF IN MOBILE HOMES OR VEHICLES...EVACUATE THEM AND GET INSIDE A
SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...LIE FLAT IN THE
NEAREST DITCH OR OTHER LOW SPOT.

.THIS IS AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AND POTENTIALLY LIFE THREATENING
SITUATION. TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY

.STAY TUNED TO THIS BROADCAST FOR THE LATEST UPDATES AND INFORMATION.
TO REPORT SEVERE WEATHER ONLY...CALL 1 800 4 3 2 0 8 7 5.

LAT...LON 3570 9029 3547 9029 3545 9088 3559 9092

$$

The office that day

Everything else NWS Memphis, TN issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 16, 9:14 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	St. Francis	31 min
May 16, 6:03 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Cross, Poinsett	57 min
May 16, 6:35 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	MEG	Craighead, Cross, Poinsett	115 min
May 16, 6:58 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MEG	Mississippi	62 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.