Alert archive / Arkansas / Mesoscale Discussions in 2003

Mesoscale Discussion 558

April 24, 200326 counties in Arkansas

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Apr 24, 2003, 10:12 AM CDT for 26 counties in Arkansas. It was in force for 2 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Apr 24, 2003, 10:12 AM CDT (15:12 UTC)
Expired
Apr 24, 2003, 12:15 PM CDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 26 counties

Arkansas County, AR, Cleburne County, AR, Conway County, AR, Craighead County, AR, Crittenden County, AR, Cross County, AR, Faulkner County, AR, Grant County, AR, Hot Spring County, AR, Independence County, AR, Jackson County, AR, Jefferson County, AR, Lawrence County, AR, Lee County, AR, Lonoke County, AR, Monroe County, AR, Phillips County, AR, Poinsett County, AR, Prairie County, AR, Pulaski County, AR, Saline County, AR, St. Francis County, AR, Stone County, AR, Van Buren County, AR, White County, AR, Woodruff County, AR

The watches that followed

Watches SPC issued over any of the same counties within four hours of this discussion.

The nearest sounding before it

Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 12:00Z, 3.2 hours before the alert went out and 178 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, Little Rock, AR at 12:00Z on 2003-04-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 29 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, Little Rock, AR at 12:00Z on 2003-04-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 300 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
29 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-291 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
788 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
61 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
300 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
346 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
ACUS11 KWNS 241513
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 241512 
ARZ000-MSZ000-241715-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 0558
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1012 AM CDT THU APR 24 2003

AREAS AFFECTED...CNTRL/ERN AR

CONCERNING...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL 

VALID 241512Z - 241715Z

SEVERE THREAT APPEARS TO BE INCREASING...WITH LARGE HAIL PRIMARY
THREAT IN THE SHORT TERM.  AREA IS BEING MONITORED FOR POSSIBILITY
OF WW.

LARGE-SCALE FORCING FOR UPWARD VERTICAL MOTION IN BAROCLINIC ZONE
NORTH OF SURFACE WARM FRONT...NEAR THE TEXARKANA/EL DORADO AR INTO
NORTH CENTRAL LOUISIANA...APPEARS TO BE INCREASING.  DEEPENING
CONVECTIVE DEVELOPMENT HAS BEEN EVIDENT PAST FEW HOURS...WITH
FURTHER INTENSIFICATION LIKELY INTO THE AFTERNOON.  SOUNDINGS
INDICATE CAPE OF 1500 TO 3000 J/KG FOR PARCELS LIFTED ABOVE
LOW-LEVEL INVERSION LAYER.  SOUTHWESTERLY MID/UPPER FLOW HAS BEEN
STRENGTHENING WITH NORTHEASTWARD PROGRESSION OF POLAR JET STREAK...
CONTRIBUTING TO INCREASINGLY FAVORABLE SHEAR PROFILES FOR SUPERCELLS
IN CLOUD BEARING LAYER.  

..KERR.. 04/24/2003

...PLEASE SEE WWW.SPC.NOAA.GOV FOR GRAPHIC PRODUCT...

ATTN...WFO...MEG...LZK...

34289338 34939284 35709266 36149138 35749022 34999032
34399085 33979206

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 23, 11:43 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCHoward, Lafayette, Little River, Miller, Polk, Sevier2 hr
Apr 24, 2:41 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCColumbia, Lafayette, Miller, Nevada, Ouachita2 hr
Apr 24, 12:47 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCArkansas, Bradley, Calhoun, Clark, Cleburne, Cleveland and 38 more3 hr
Apr 24, 1:00 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCArkansas, Bradley, Calhoun, Clark, Cleveland, Columbia and 25 more7 hr
Apr 24, 2:05 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCAshley, Chicot6 hr
Apr 24, 2:46 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCChicot119 min
Apr 24, 3:25 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCBaxter, Boone, Cleburne, Conway, Faulkner, Fulton and 19 more5 hr
Apr 24, 3:28 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCArkansas, Clark, Cleburne, Cleveland, Conway, Craighead and 32 more2 hr
Apr 24, 5:52 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCArkansas, Baxter, Boone, Clay, Cleburne, Cleveland and 36 more113 min
Apr 24, 6:35 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCArkansas, Baxter, Clay, Cleburne, Cleveland, Conway and 33 more5 hr
Apr 24, 6:49 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCChicot56 min

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Arkansas, 2003Every mesoscale discussion 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.