Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Watches in 2004

Tornado Watch 26

March 4, 20045 states

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Mar 4, 2004, 6:15 PM CST for 5 states. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Mar 4, 2004, 6:15 PM CST (00:15 UTC)
Expired: Mar 4, 2004, 11:00 PM CST
In force: 5 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 77 counties

Arkansas County, AR, Ashley County, AR, Baxter County, AR, Bradley County, AR, Calhoun County, AR, Chicot County, AR, Clay County, AR, Cleburne County, AR, Cleveland County, AR, Conway County, AR, Craighead County, AR, Crittenden County, AR, Cross County, AR, Dallas County, AR, Desha County, AR, Drew County, AR, Faulkner County, AR, Fulton County, AR, Grant County, AR, Greene County, AR, Independence County, AR, Izard County, AR, Jackson County, AR, Jefferson County, AR, Lawrence County, AR, Lee County, AR, Lincoln County, AR, Lonoke County, AR, Marion County, AR, Mississippi County, AR, Monroe County, AR, Phillips County, AR, Poinsett County, AR, Prairie County, AR, Pulaski County, AR, Randolph County, AR, Saline County, AR, Searcy County, AR, Sharp County, AR, St. Francis County, AR, Stone County, AR, Union County, AR, Van Buren County, AR, White County, AR, Woodruff County, AR, East Carroll Parish, LA, Lincoln Parish, LA, Morehouse Parish, LA, Union Parish, LA, West Carroll Parish, LA, Butler County, MO, Dunklin County, MO, Howell County, MO, Oregon County, MO, Ozark County, MO, Pemiscot County, MO, Ripley County, MO, Stoddard County, MO, Bolivar County, MS, Carroll County, MS, Coahoma County, MS, DeSoto County, MS, Holmes County, MS, Humphreys County, MS, Issaquena County, MS, Leflore County, MS, Madison County, MS, Panola County, MS, Quitman County, MS, Sharkey County, MS, Sunflower County, MS, Tallahatchie County, MS, Tate County, MS, Tunica County, MS, Washington County, MS, Yazoo County, MS, Shelby County, TN

Warnings issued inside it

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 4, 7:03 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LZK	Saline	37 min
Mar 4, 7:23 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LZK	Faulkner, Perry, Pulaski	42 min
Mar 4, 7:38 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LZK	Newton, Searcy	32 min
Mar 4, 7:42 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LZK	Saline	28 min
Mar 4, 7:57 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LZK	Marion	33 min
Mar 4, 8:05 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LZK	Faulkner, Pulaski	30 min
Mar 4, 8:11 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LZK	Baxter	29 min
Mar 4, 8:20 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LZK	Cleburne, White	40 min
Mar 4, 8:24 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LZK	Hot Spring, Saline	31 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

Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 00:00Z, 0.3 hours before the alert went out and 164 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: 54 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -20 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 798 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 75 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 295 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 489 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WWUS20 KWNS 050016
SEL6  
SPC WW 050015
ARZ000-LAZ000-MOZ000-MSZ000-TNZ000-050500-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 26
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
615 PM CST THU MAR 4 2004

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

       EASTERN ARKANSAS
       NORTHEASTERN LOUISIANA
       SOUTHERN MISSOURI
       NORTHWESTERN MISSISSIPPI
       EXTREME WESTERN TENNESSEE

EFFECTIVE THIS THURSDAY EVENING FROM 615 PM UNTIL 1100 PM CST.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 1.5 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND
GUSTS TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE
AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 85 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 35 MILES EAST NORTHEAST OF WEST PLAINS MISSOURI TO
40 MILES EAST OF MONROE LOUISIANA.

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 24...WW 25...


DISCUSSION...LINE OF STRONG TO SEVERE STORMS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE
EAST THROUGH THE LOWER MS VALLEY NEXT FEW HOURS. THOUGH
THERMODYNAMIC PROFILES ARE MARGINAL...STRONG SHEAR AND FORCING
ASSOCIATED WITH SHORTWAVE TROUGH EJECTING NEWD THROUGH THE MS VALLEY
EXPECTED TO MAINTAIN ORGANIZED LINE WITH EMBEDDED BOW ECHOES AND
SUPERCELLS.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 1.5 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE
WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO
450. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 25055.


...DIAL/HART

365,0894 322,0895 322,0924 365,0924

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 4, 9:24 PM CST	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Arkansas, Bradley, Clay, Craighead, Crittenden, Cross and 16 more	66 min
Mar 5, 4:50 PM CST	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Avoyelles, Catahoula, Concordia, Madison, Tensas, West Feliciana	115 min
Mar 5, 12:57 AM CST	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Benton, DeSoto, Marshall, Tate, Tippah	63 min
Mar 5, 5:40 PM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	Adams, Attala, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Claiborne, Clay and 29 more	5 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Arkansas, 2004 Tornado Watches in Mississippi, 2004 Tornado Watches in Missouri, 2004 Every tornado watch in 2004

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.