Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Watches in 2003
Tornado Watch 298
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 8, 2003, 6:20 AM CDT for 7 counties in Arkansas; 4 counties in Oklahoma. It was in force for 3 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- May 8, 2003, 6:20 AM CDT (11:20 UTC)
- Expired
- May 8, 2003, 9:00 AM CDT
- In force
- 3 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
Counties Crawford County, AR, Franklin County, AR, Logan County, AR, Montgomery County, AR, Scott County, AR, Sebastian County, AR, Yell County, AR, Haskell County, OK, Latimer County, OK, LeFlore County, OK, Sequoyah County, OK
The radar
The Western Arkansas radar (KSRX), 12 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 11:22 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.
Warnings issued inside it
4 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 8, 6:37 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Sebastian | 53 min |
| May 8, 6:44 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Scott | 46 min |
| May 8, 6:56 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | LeFlore | 34 min |
| May 8, 7:51 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Franklin | 39 min |
Discussions around it
SPC mesoscale discussions over the same counties from four hours before the watch to its end.
The nearest sounding before it
Springfield, MO (KSGF), launched 00:00Z, 11.3 hours before the alert went out and 190 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1810 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 65 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 44 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 178 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
WWUS20 KWNS 081119
SEL8
SPC WW 081120
ARZ000-OKZ000-081400-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 298
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
620 AM CDT THU MAY 8 2003
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
WESTERN ARKANSAS
EASTERN OKLAHOMA
EFFECTIVE THIS THURSDAY MORNING FROM 620 AM UNTIL 900 AM CDT.
TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.
THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 40 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND
SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 55 MILES WEST OF FORT SMITH ARKANSAS TO 70
MILES EAST SOUTHEAST OF FORT SMITH ARKANSAS.
REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA.
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.
OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...THIS TORNADO WATCH REPLACES SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 296. WATCH NUMBER 296 WILL NOT BE IN
EFFECT AFTER 620 AM CDT. CONTINUE...WW 295...WW 297...
DISCUSSION...SUPERCELL ALONG WARM FRONT SEGEMENT IN E CNTRL OK
EXPECTED TO CONTINUE E OR POSSIBLY ESE INTO WRN AR...BEFORE
WEAKENING IN RESPONSE TO INCREASING CINH. SUFFICIENT LOW LEVEL
SHEAR APPEARS PRESENT /PER FSM VWP/ TO SUPPORT A TORNADO THREAT
GIVEN RICH BOUNDARY LAYER MOISTURE AND CHANNELING OF LOW LEVEL FLOW
BY TOPOGRAPHY.
AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 550.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 27030.
...CORFIDI
355,0952 353,0931 342,0931 344,0952SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 8, 1:18 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Benton, Garland, Grant, Hot Spring, Lincoln, Montgomery and 2 more | 3 hr |
| May 8, 1:55 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Benton, Carroll | 5 hr |
| May 8, 5:02 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Crawford, Franklin, Howard, Johnson, Logan, Madison and 8 more | 2 hr |
| May 8, 7:33 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Crawford, Franklin, Johnson, Logan, Montgomery, Scott and 2 more | 87 min |
| May 8, 8:25 AM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Baxter, Boone, Cleburne, Conway, Craighead, Crittenden and 18 more | 5 hr |
| May 8, 9:55 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Mississippi | 3 hr |
| May 8, 10:21 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Clay, Cleburne, Craighead, Greene, Independence, Izard and 8 more | 84 min |
| May 8, 10:25 AM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Clay, Craighead, Crittenden, Cross, Greene, Mississippi and 3 more | 6 hr |
| May 8, 11:59 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Clay, Cleburne, Craighead, Greene, Independence, Izard and 8 more | 2 hr |
| May 8, 12:24 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Clay, Craighead, Crittenden, Cross, Greene, Mississippi and 2 more | 2 hr |
| May 8, 5:31 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Benton, Carroll, Crawford, Franklin, Johnson, Logan and 4 more | 59 min |
| May 8, 5:45 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Benton, Crawford, Sebastian, Washington | 5 hr |
| May 8, 6:38 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Benton, Crawford, Washington | 2 hr |
| May 7, 8:01 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Beckham, Caddo, Comanche, Cotton, Greer, Harmon and 4 more | 59 min |
| May 7, 10:35 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Alfalfa, Blaine, Caddo, Canadian, Cherokee, Cleveland and 29 more | 55 min |
| May 7, 10:35 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Beckham, Bryan, Carter, Coal, Comanche, Cotton and 13 more | 5 hr |
| May 7, 10:55 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Adair, Alfalfa, Beckham, Blaine, Caddo, Canadian and 39 more | 5 hr |
| May 7, 11:51 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Beckham, Bryan, Carter, Coal, Comanche, Cotton and 13 more | 54 min |
| May 8, 1:57 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Atoka, Beckham, Bryan, Carter, Coal, Comanche and 14 more | 2 hr |
| May 8, 3:50 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Adair, Atoka, Bryan, Cherokee, Choctaw, Coal and 25 more | 3 hr |
| May 8, 3:51 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Ottawa | 3 hr |
| May 8, 12:49 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Alfalfa, Blaine, Garfield, Grant, Kingfisher, Kiowa and 1 more | 3 hr |
| May 8, 1:35 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Alfalfa, Blaine, Caddo, Canadian, Carter, Cleveland and 24 more | 7 hr |
| May 8, 3:34 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Alfalfa, Caddo, Canadian, Carter, Cleveland, Comanche and 25 more | 116 min |
| May 8, 4:47 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Canadian, Cleveland, Grady, Lincoln, Logan, McClain and 3 more | 58 min |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Arkansas, 2003Tornado Watches in Oklahoma, 2003Every tornado watch 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.