Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Watches in 2003

Tornado Watch 393

May 16, 20034 states

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 16, 2003, 12:45 PM CDT for 4 states. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: May 16, 2003, 12:45 PM CDT (17:45 UTC)
Expired: May 16, 2003, 6:00 PM CDT
In force: 5 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 98 counties

Bradley County, AR, Calhoun County, AR, Clark County, AR, Cleburne County, AR, Cleveland County, AR, Columbia County, AR, Conway County, AR, Crawford County, AR, Dallas County, AR, Faulkner County, AR, Franklin County, AR, Garland County, AR, Grant County, AR, Hempstead County, AR, Hot Spring County, AR, Howard County, AR, Jefferson County, AR, Johnson County, AR, Lafayette County, AR, Little River County, AR, Logan County, AR, Lonoke County, AR, Miller County, AR, Montgomery County, AR, Nevada County, AR, Ouachita County, AR, Perry County, AR, Pike County, AR, Polk County, AR, Pope County, AR, Pulaski County, AR, Saline County, AR, Scott County, AR, Sebastian County, AR, Sevier County, AR, Union County, AR, Van Buren County, AR, White County, AR, Yell County, AR, Bienville Parish, LA, Bossier Parish, LA, Caddo Parish, LA, Caldwell Parish, LA, Claiborne Parish, LA, De Soto Parish, LA, Jackson Parish, LA, Lincoln Parish, LA, Natchitoches Parish, LA, Ouachita Parish, LA, Red River Parish, LA, Union Parish, LA, Webster Parish, LA, Winn Parish, LA, Atoka County, OK, Bryan County, OK, Choctaw County, OK, Coal County, OK, Haskell County, OK, Hughes County, OK, Latimer County, OK, LeFlore County, OK, McCurtain County, OK, McIntosh County, OK, Muskogee County, OK, Okfuskee County, OK, Okmulgee County, OK, Pittsburg County, OK, Pushmataha County, OK, Sequoyah County, OK, Anderson County, TX, Bowie County, TX, Camp County, TX, Cass County, TX, Cherokee County, TX, Delta County, TX, Fannin County, TX, Franklin County, TX, Gregg County, TX, Harrison County, TX, Henderson County, TX, Hopkins County, TX, Hunt County, TX, Kaufman County, TX, Lamar County, TX, Marion County, TX, Morris County, TX, Navarro County, TX, Panola County, TX, Rains County, TX, Red River County, TX, Rockwall County, TX, Rusk County, TX, Shelby County, TX, Smith County, TX, Titus County, TX, Upshur County, TX, Van Zandt County, TX, Wood County, TX

The radar

The Shreveport radar (KSHV), 122 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:48 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

72 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 16, 1:01 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Okfuskee	59 min
May 16, 1:05 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TSA	Okfuskee	55 min
May 16, 1:13 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	OUN	Hughes	32 min
May 16, 1:20 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LZK	White	45 min
May 16, 1:21 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Franklin, Madison	54 min
May 16, 1:26 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TSA	Okmulgee	64 min
May 16, 1:35 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Pittsburg	55 min
May 16, 1:51 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TSA	McIntosh, Muskogee	54 min
May 16, 1:54 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TSA	Pittsburg	66 min
May 16, 2:00 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Atoka, Bryan	30 min
May 16, 2:02 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LZK	White	48 min
May 16, 2:10 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TSA	McIntosh	65 min
May 16, 2:16 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Latimer, Pushmataha	59 min
May 16, 2:17 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LZK	White	33 min
May 16, 2:19 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LZK	Yell	31 min
May 16, 2:26 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TSA	Okmulgee	34 min
May 16, 2:27 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LZK	Montgomery	28 min
May 16, 2:29 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TSA	Haskell, Muskogee	61 min
May 16, 2:35 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TSA	Muskogee	55 min
May 16, 2:43 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LZK	Yell	27 min
May 16, 2:57 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Muskogee	48 min
May 16, 3:10 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LZK	Conway	45 min
May 16, 3:12 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Latimer, LeFlore, Pushmataha	73 min
May 16, 3:13 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	LZK	Montgomery	3 hr
May 16, 3:16 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LZK	Perry	44 min
May 16, 3:18 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TSA	Muskogee	42 min
May 16, 3:21 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TSA	Latimer	39 min
May 16, 3:26 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Haskell, Sequoyah	64 min
May 16, 3:34 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TSA	LeFlore	56 min
May 16, 3:37 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	LZK	Yell	3 hr
May 16, 3:42 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	LZK	Conway	3 hr
May 16, 3:47 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LZK	Faulkner	43 min
May 16, 3:54 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	LZK	Pope	2 hr
May 16, 3:58 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	LZK	Faulkner	2 hr
May 16, 4:02 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LZK	Pulaski	58 min
May 16, 4:04 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TSA	Crawford, Sebastian	56 min
May 16, 4:05 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LZK	Faulkner	45 min
May 16, 4:12 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LZK	Perry, Saline	58 min
May 16, 4:19 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LZK	White	61 min
May 16, 4:21 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LZK	Scott	44 min
May 16, 4:30 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	SHV	Wood	60 min
May 16, 4:31 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TSA	LeFlore	59 min
May 16, 4:34 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	SHV	Red River	56 min
May 16, 4:35 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Franklin	55 min
May 16, 4:38 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LZK	Cleburne	57 min
May 16, 4:39 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FWD	Hopkins	36 min
May 16, 4:42 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LZK	White	58 min
May 16, 4:51 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LZK	Faulkner	39 min
May 16, 4:53 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LZK	Logan	42 min
May 16, 4:53 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FWD	Navarro	52 min
May 16, 4:58 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TSA	Crawford	47 min
May 16, 5:00 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LZK	Garland, Perry, Saline	45 min
May 16, 5:00 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	SHV	McCurtain	45 min
May 16, 5:00 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FWD	Van Zandt	45 min
May 16, 5:00 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	SHV	Franklin	60 min
May 16, 5:02 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LZK	Logan	33 min
May 16, 5:03 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LZK	White	57 min
May 16, 5:06 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LZK	Pulaski	14 min
May 16, 5:12 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	LZK	Van Buren	118 min
May 16, 5:12 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	SHV	Titus	63 min
May 16, 5:16 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FWD	Henderson	59 min
May 16, 5:24 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LZK	Yell	36 min
May 16, 5:25 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	LZK	White	3 hr
May 16, 5:27 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	SHV	Wood	63 min
May 16, 5:35 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	SHV	Smith	55 min
May 16, 5:36 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	SHV	Sevier	39 min
May 16, 5:37 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LZK	Johnson, Logan, Pope	48 min
May 16, 5:45 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FWD	Freestone, Navarro	60 min
May 16, 5:45 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	SHV	Camp	60 min
May 16, 5:46 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LZK	Faulkner, Perry	59 min
May 16, 5:49 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	SHV	Morris	56 min
May 16, 5:58 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LZK	Yell	47 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

Shreveport, LA (KSHV), launched 12:00Z, 5.8 hours before the alert went out and 126 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: 299 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -621 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1397 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 223 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 439 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.

000 
WWUS20 KWNS 161737
SEL3  
SPC WW 161745
ARZ000-LAZ000-OKZ000-TXZ000-162300-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 393 
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 
1245 PM CDT FRI MAY 16 2003

THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF 

       CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN ARKANSAS
       NORTHERN LOUISIANA
       SOUTHERN AND EASTERN OKLAHOMA
       NORTHEAST TEXAS

EFFECTIVE THIS FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 1245 PM UNTIL 600
PM CDT.

...THIS IS A PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION...

DESTRUCTIVE TORNADOES...LARGE HAIL TO 3 INCHES IN DIAMETER...
THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE
POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 135 STATUTE MILES EAST AND
WEST OF A LINE FROM 35 MILES NORTHEAST OF FORT SMITH ARKANSAS TO
50 MILES SOUTH SOUTHEAST OF LONGVIEW TEXAS.

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...CONTINUE...WW 392...


DISCUSSION...THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP IN THE NEXT HOUR OR
SO ALONG DRY LINE EXTENDING S/SE FROM OK SFC LOW...AND FARTHER E
ALONG 850 MB CONFLUENCE ZONE OVER NE TX/WRN AR.  FAVORABLE
SHEAR/INSTABILITY WILL EXIST FOR LONG LIVED DISCRETE SUPERCELLS WITH
LARGE HAIL/HIGH WINDS AND POSSIBLY STRONG TORNADOES GIVEN CONTINUED
SURFACE HEATING AND RICH BOUNDARY LAYER MOISTURE INFLUX.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 3 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 550.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 25040.


...CORFIDI

353,0913 314,0920 314,0964 353,0961

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 16, 4:04 AM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Benton, Boone, Carroll, Clark, Crawford, Franklin and 17 more	56 min
May 16, 4:25 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Benton, Carroll, Crawford, Franklin, Howard, Johnson and 10 more	5 hr
May 16, 5:47 AM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Benton, Carroll, Crawford, Franklin, Howard, Johnson and 10 more	58 min
May 16, 6:35 AM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Baxter, Benton, Boone, Carroll, Clark, Cleburne and 36 more	25 min
May 16, 6:50 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Arkansas, Baxter, Boone, Cleburne, Cleveland, Conway and 27 more	4 hr
May 16, 7:42 AM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Arkansas, Baxter, Boone, Cleburne, Cleveland, Conway and 26 more	63 min
May 16, 9:16 AM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Howard, Little River, Polk, Sevier	119 min
May 16, 9:39 AM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Clay, Crittenden, Mississippi	96 min
May 16, 12:09 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Bradley, Calhoun, Clark, Cleveland, Columbia, Conway and 28 more	3 hr
May 16, 2:12 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Arkansas, Baxter, Boone, Clark, Clay, Cleburne and 44 more	93 min
May 16, 2:50 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Arkansas, Ashley, Chicot, Clay, Craighead, Crittenden and 16 more	7 hr
May 16, 3:18 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Clark, Garland, Hempstead, Hot Spring, Howard, Little River and 11 more	117 min
May 16, 3:34 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Baxter, Benton, Boone, Carroll, Fulton, Izard and 6 more	116 min
May 16, 3:55 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Baxter, Benton, Boone, Carroll, Fulton, Independence and 8 more	6 hr
May 16, 5:06 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Bradley, Calhoun, Clark, Cleburne, Cleveland, Columbia and 33 more	54 min
May 16, 5:45 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Arkansas, Bradley, Calhoun, Clark, Cleburne, Cleveland and 40 more	6 hr
May 16, 5:59 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Arkansas, Ashley, Chicot, Clay, Craighead, Crittenden and 13 more	91 min
May 16, 6:39 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Baxter, Benton, Boone, Carroll, Clay, Cleburne and 20 more	2 hr
May 15, 8:38 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Cotton, Jackson, Jefferson, Stephens, Tillman	2 hr
May 15, 10:25 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Cotton, Jackson, Jefferson, Stephens, Tillman	6 hr
May 15, 10:30 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Alfalfa, Beaver, Beckham, Blaine, Custer, Dewey and 8 more	2 hr
May 15, 11:32 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Cimarron, Texas	118 min
May 15, 11:35 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Alfalfa, Beckham, Blaine, Caddo, Canadian, Comanche and 13 more	4 hr
May 15, 11:49 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Cotton, Jackson, Jefferson, Stephens, Tillman	86 min
May 16, 1:20 AM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Atoka, Bryan, Carter, Choctaw, Cleveland, Coal and 33 more	6 hr
May 16, 1:22 AM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Alfalfa, Blaine, Caddo, Canadian, Cleveland, Custer and 16 more	53 min
May 16, 2:33 AM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Atoka, Bryan, Carter, Choctaw, Cleveland, Coal and 16 more	57 min
May 16, 3:07 AM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Atoka, Bryan, Carter, Choctaw, Cleveland, Coal and 33 more	53 min
May 16, 5:22 AM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Atoka, Bryan, Choctaw, Coal, Johnston, Latimer and 10 more	53 min
May 16, 11:35 AM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Caddo, Canadian, Cleveland, Creek, Garfield, Grady and 20 more	2 hr
May 16, 12:00 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Adair, Canadian, Cherokee, Craig, Creek, Delaware and 23 more	6 hr
May 16, 1:46 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Cherokee, Creek, Lincoln, Logan, McIntosh, Mayes and 12 more	89 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Arkansas, 2003 Tornado Watches in Texas, 2003 Tornado Watches in Oklahoma, 2003 Every 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.