Alert archive / Arkansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2003
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 381, NWS Tulsa, OK
NWS Tulsa, OK issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 21, 2003, 3:53 PM CDT for Franklin 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
- Aug 21, 2003, 3:53 PM CDT (20:53 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 21, 2003, 4:45 PM CDT
- In force
- 52 min
- Issued by
- NWS Tulsa, OK
- Area
- Counties, with a storm outline in the text
County Franklin County, AR
The radar
The Western Arkansas radar (KSRX), 57 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:52 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.
Did it verify
Not verified. The Iowa Environmental Mesonet's Cow found no qualifying storm report inside this severe thunderstorm warning while it was in force. That is not proof nothing happened: reports are thin where few people live.
Cow counts a report within 15 km of the polygon while the warning was in force: a tornado for a tornado warning; hail of 1 inch or more, a gust of 58 mph or more or wind damage for a severe thunderstorm warning; a flash flood report for a flash flood warning.
The nearest sounding before it
Springfield, MO (KSGF), launched 12:00Z, 8.9 hours before the alert went out and 148 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
- 1352 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -141 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1499 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 9 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 29 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 63 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 WUUS54 KTSA 212053 SVRTUL ARC047-212145- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK 352 PM CDT THU AUG 21 2003 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TULSA HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... CENTRAL FRANKLIN COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL ARKANSAS * UNTIL 445 PM CDT * AT 352 PM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 8 MILES SOUTHEAST OF CASS...MOVING SOUTHWEST AT 5 MPH. * SOME LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE...CASS AND FERN. HAIL TO THE SIZE OF NICKELS AND WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH CAN BE EXPECTED IN THE WARNED AREA. STAY INDOORS AND AWAY FROM WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED. LAT...LON 3551 9368 3571 9373 3564 9403 3546 9402 $$
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Tulsa, OK wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Aug 21, 2:50 PM CDT, 1 hour 3 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 21, 2:50 PM CDT, 1 hour 3 minutes before
EASTERN OKLAHOMA/NORTHWEST ARKANSAS FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OKLAHOMA 250 PM CDT THU AUG 21 2003 LATEST SURFACE DATA AND SATELLITE IMAGERY PLACE A WEAK COLD FRONT BISECTING KANSAS FROM NE-SW WITH A MEAGER CUMULUS FIELD NOTED ALONG THE BOUNDARY. AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS HAVE AGAIN FORMED OVER AR WITH THE PRIMARY AXIS SHIFTED SLIGHTLY FURTHER WEST THAN PREVIOUS DAYS. RADAR TRENDS WILL DETERMINE ANY EVENING WORDING FOR WESTERN ARKANSAS LOCATIONS. WEAK FRONT WILL ATTEMPT TO SLIDE SOUTH OVERNIGHT HOWEVER BELIEVE IT WILL REMAIN NORTH OF THE KS/OK BORDER FOR MUCH OF THE PERIOD. THUS WILL CONTINUE WITH NEAR PERSISTENT OVERNIGHT LOW FORECAST DESPITE WEAKENING GRADIENT PROVIDING CALM WINDS TOWARD MORNING. WEAKENING UPPER LEVEL DYNAMICS AND ASSOCIATED DECREASE IN LOW LEVEL JET STRENGTH HAS YIELDED A DECREASE IN OVERNIGHT CONVECTIVE TRENDS. THIS WILL CONTINUE AS SUBSTANTIAL FORCING SHIFTS WELL TO THE NORTH AND EAST KEEPING PRECIP CHANCES ABSENT FROM TEXT PRODUCTS. WEAK BOUNDARY TO SLIP INTO NORTHERN AREAS BY MID MORNING TOMORROW HOWEVER HEATING MAY ACTUALLY BE ENHANCED WITHIN SURFACE TROUGH AS OBSERVED TODAY. THIS WILL FORCE A CONTINUATION OF THE HEAT ADVISORY FOR TULSA METRO AREA. PRECIP CHANCES WILL INCREASE SLIGHTLY BY AFTERNOON WITHIN THE VICINITY OF THE SURFACE TROUGH AS WEAK CONVERGENCE AND CONVECTIVE TEMPS COMBINE FORCES. WILL ALSO CONTINUE PRECIP CHANCES OVER ARKANSAS AS AIRMASS CHARACTERISTICS TO CHANGE LITTLE. WILL HOPE FOR SLIGHTLY LOWER DEWPOINTS ACROSS THE NORTH TOMORROW NIGHT AND ALONG WITH LIGHT WINDS WILL ALLOW LOWS TO FALL TO MORE SEASONAL VALUES. NOT EXCITED ABOUT PRECIP CHANCES ON SATURDAY AS EXPANDING UPPER HIGH CENTERED OVERHEAD. NW AR MAY BE THE EXCEPTION WITH REMNANT SURFACE BOUNDARY NEARBY. EASTERLY WINDS WILL ALSO HELP KNOCK A FEW DEGREES OFF THE HEAT. WARMING AND DRY CONDITIONS RETURN BY SUNDAY AS UPPER HIGH EXPANDS OVER THE CENTRAL U.S. RIDGE AXIS MAY BECOME ELONGATED AND CENTERED SLIGHTLY TO THE NORTH ALLOWING FOR A DEEPER EASTERLY FLOW AND KEEPING TEMPS JUST SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL. POTENTIAL MID-WEEK FRONTAL BOUNDARY STILL EVIDENT IN EXTENDED MODELS TO VARYING DEGREES. MODEL ENSEMBLES SUPPORT A MORE NORTHERLY POSITION OF WESTERLIES WHICH WOULD LIKELY KEEP ANY BOUNDARY WELL TO THE NORTH...SO LITTLE DAY TO DAY CHANGE REFLECTED IN THE EXTENDED. PRELIM NUMBERS: TUL 79 100 75 97 / 10 20 10 10 FSM 74 99 75 96 / 10 20 10 10 MLC 75 99 76 99 / 5 10 10 10 BVO 73 101 71 96 / 10 20 10 10 FYV 69 95 68 93 / 10 20 10 20 BYV 69 94 68 91 / 10 20 10 20 MKO 75 100 75 96 / 10 20 10 10 MIO 74 99 69 92 / 10 20 10 10 F10 75 99 75 98 / 10 20 10 10 HHW 75 97 76 97 / 5 5 10 10 FORECAST ID= 07 .TSA... AR...NONE. OK...HEAT ADVISORY THROUGH FRIDAY FOR ZONE OKZ060.
Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 21, 1:00 PM CDT, 2 hours 53 minutes before
ARZ001-002-010-011-019-020-029-OKZ049-053>076-221100- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK 100 PM CDT THU AUG 21 2003 THIS OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL ARKANSAS AS WELL AS MUCH OF EASTERN OKLAHOMA. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL REMAIN POSSIBLE IN THE HIGHER TERRAIN OF NORTHWEST ARKANSAS AND FAR SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA THIS AFTERNOON. THIS ACTIVITY IS EXPECTED TO DISSIPATE BY EARLY EVENING WITH THE LOSS OF SURFACE HEATING. ADDITIONAL STRONG TO SEVERE STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ALONG A COLD FRONT THAT IS CURRENTLY PUSHING SLOWLY SOUTH ACROSS NORTHERN KANSAS AND MISSOURI. THESE STORMS HOWEVER WILL LIKELY DISSIPATE BY LATE EVENING BEFORE REACHING THE AREA. A HEAT ADVISORY IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR TULSA COUNTY THROUGH FRIDAY. SEE /OKCNPWTUL/ FOR DETAILS. HEAT INDICES THIS AFTERNOON AND FRIDAY WILL RUN IN THE 104 TO 108 RANGE...WITH OVERNIGHT TEMPERATURES ONLY FALLING TO NEAR OR JUST BELOW 80 DEGREES IN THE TULSA METRO. WARNING PROBABILITIES FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND TORNADOES CAN BE FOUND IN THE OUTLOOK SECTION AT: WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/TULSA. GIVEN PROBABILITIES REPRESENT THE POTENTIAL FOR A WARNING TO BE ISSUED AT YOUR LOCATION. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY LOW CHANCES FOR THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE FRIDAY AS THE COLD FRONT WILL BE LOCATED ACROSS FAR NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS. WHILE THIS FRONT EXPECTED TO WASHOUT AS IT MOVES SOUTHEAST ACROSS OKLAHOMA FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY...LOW CHANCES FOR STORMS WILL CONTINUE OUT AHEAD OF THE FRONT OR ANY OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES LAID OUT BY PREVIOUS CONVECTION. AN UPPER RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD IN FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE WEEKEND AND INTO NEXT WEEK... RESULTING IN HOT AND DRY CONDITIONS. .SPOTTER / EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ACTION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED THROUGH TONIGHT. ADDITIONAL WEATHER INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND AT... WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/TULSA
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Aug 21, 3:17 PM CDT, 36 minutes before
ARZ010-212100-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
317 PM CDT THU AUG 21 2003
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TULSA HAS ISSUED A
SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY EFFECTIVE UNTIL 400 PM CDT
FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTY:
IN NORTHWEST ARKANSAS
WASHINGTON
AT 317 PM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM OVER
TUTTLE...MOVING NORTHWEST ABOUT 10 MPH. SOME LOCATIONS THAT WILL BE
AFFECTED BY THIS STORM INCLUDE...SHADY GROVE...TUTTLE...MAYFIELD...
HARMON...GOSHEN...JOHNSON AND SONORA.
THIS STORM WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING SMALL HAIL AND WIND GUSTS TO
40 MPH.The office that day
Everything else NWS Tulsa, OK issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 21, 3:48 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Madison | 42 min |
| Aug 21, 4:24 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Washington | 51 min |
| Aug 21, 4:40 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Carroll | 50 min |
| Aug 21, 4:52 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA | Crawford | 38 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Arkansas, 2003Every severe thunderstorm warning 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.