Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 69, NWS Tulsa, OK

May 16, 2003Washington County, Arkansas

NWS Tulsa, OK issued this tornado warning at May 16, 2003, 4:27 PM CDT for Washington County, Arkansas. It was in force for 63 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, 4:27 PM CDT (21:27 UTC)
Expired: May 16, 2003, 5:30 PM CDT
In force: 63 min
Issued by: NWS Tulsa, OK
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Washington County, AR

The radar

The Western Arkansas radar (KSRX), 83 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:30 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.

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, 3:55 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Springfield, MO (KSGF), launched 12:00Z, 9.5 hours before the alert went out and 104 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: 189 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -176 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 777 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 178 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 168 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

478 
WFUS54 KTSA 162127
TORTUL
ARC143-162230-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
427 PM CDT FRI MAY 16 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TULSA HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR
  WASHINGTON COUNTY IN NORTHWEST ARKANSAS

* UNTIL 530 PM CDT

* AT 427 PM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH
  STRONG ROTATION 10 MILES SOUTHWEST OF CINCINNATI...MOVING EAST AT
  30 MPH. THIS DANGEROUS STORM COULD PRODUCE A TORNADO AT ANY TIME.

* SOME LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE...
  FAYETTEVILLE...SPRINGDALE...WEST FORK...LINCOLN...PRAIRIE GROVE...
  ELKINS...FARMINGTON...GREENLAND AND CINCINNATI.

IF YOU ARE NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM...TAKE COVER NOW IF NO
UNDERGROUND SHELTER IS AVAILABLE MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE
LOWEST FLOOR. MOBILE HOMES AND VEHICLES SHOULD BE ABANDONED FOR MORE
SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. AVOID WINDOWS

VERY HEAVY RAIN MAY COMPLETELY OBSCURE THIS TORNADO - TAKE COVER NOW
IF YOU WAIT UNTIL YOU SEE OR HEAR IT COMING IT MAY BE TOO LATE TO GET
TO A SAFE PLACE.

LAT...LON 3596 9397 3596 9398 3586 9451 3607 9454
          3610 9444 3610 9439 3612 9437 3620 9409
          3596 9396

The office that day

Everything else NWS Tulsa, OK issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 16, 5:28 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Benton, Crawford, Sebastian, Washington	62 min
May 16, 5:56 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Carroll, Franklin, Madison	79 min
May 16, 6:45 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Crawford, Sebastian	75 min
May 16, 6:52 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Carroll, Franklin, Madison	23 min
May 16, 1:21 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Franklin, Madison	54 min
May 16, 4:04 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TSA	Crawford, Sebastian	56 min
May 16, 4:35 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Franklin	55 min
May 16, 4:58 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TSA	Crawford	47 min
May 16, 5:34 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	TSA	Madison	4 hr

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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.