Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Watches in 2004
Tornado Watch 860
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Oct 18, 2004, 5:50 PM CDT for 26 counties in Arkansas; 17 counties in Mississippi. It was in force for 5 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Oct 18, 2004, 5:50 PM CDT (22:50 UTC)
- Expired
- Oct 18, 2004, 11:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 5 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 43 counties
Arkansas County, AR, Ashley County, AR, Bradley County, AR, Calhoun County, AR, Chicot County, AR, Clark County, AR, Cleveland County, AR, Columbia County, AR, Dallas County, AR, Desha County, AR, Drew County, AR, Garland County, AR, Grant County, AR, Hot Spring County, AR, Jefferson County, AR, Lee County, AR, Lincoln County, AR, Lonoke County, AR, Monroe County, AR, Nevada County, AR, Ouachita County, AR, Phillips County, AR, Prairie County, AR, Pulaski County, AR, Saline County, AR, Union County, AR, Bolivar County, MS, Carroll County, MS, Coahoma County, MS, DeSoto County, MS, Grenada County, MS, Lafayette County, MS, Leflore County, MS, Marshall County, MS, Montgomery County, MS, Panola County, MS, Quitman County, MS, Sunflower County, MS, Tallahatchie County, MS, Tate County, MS, Tunica County, MS, Washington County, MS, Yalobusha County, MS
The radar
The Little Rock radar (KLZK), 84 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:52 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.
Warnings issued inside it
7 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 18, 5:50 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Dallas | 40 min |
| Oct 18, 7:14 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Dallas | 61 min |
| Oct 18, 7:26 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | LZK | Dallas | 49 min |
| Oct 18, 7:32 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Arkansas, Jefferson | 58 min |
| Oct 18, 9:01 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Arkansas | 44 min |
| Oct 18, 9:04 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Jefferson, Lincoln | 56 min |
| Oct 18, 10:21 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Lee, Phillips | 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
Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 12:00Z, 10.8 hours before the alert went out and 186 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
- 1504 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -6 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 520 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 43 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 390 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 482 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 3.3
- Supercell composite
- 16.6
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
WWUS20 KWNS 182254
SEL0
SPC WW 182250
ARZ000-MSZ000-190400-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 860
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
550 PM CDT MON OCT 18 2004
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
SOUTHERN ARKANSAS
NORTHWESTERN MISSISSIPPI
EFFECTIVE THIS MONDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 550 PM UNTIL 1100
PM 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 60 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND
SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 45 MILES SOUTH SOUTHWEST OF HOT SPRINGS
ARKANSAS TO 15 MILES SOUTH SOUTHEAST OF OXFORD MISSISSIPPI.
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 857...WW 858...WW 859...
DISCUSSION...A WEAK AREA OF CONVERGENCE WITH CONVECTION EXTENDS FROM
SOUTH OF LIT TO TXK. STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO INTENSIFY ALONG THIS
AXIS AND SHIFT EWD DURING THE EVENING AS STRONG FORCING ASSOCIATED
WITH A 250 MB JET MAX INCREASES THE UPPER LEVEL DIVERGENCE/LOW LEVEL
CONVERGENCE. A VERY MOIST BOUNDARY LAYER AND STRONG LOW LEVEL SHEAR
IS FAVORABLE FOR SUPERCELLS WITH LARGE HAIL AND A FEW TORNADOES.
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 26030.
...IMY
344,0932 350,0892 331,0892 330,0932SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 17, 11:30 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Baxter, Clay, Fulton, Greene, Marion, Randolph and 1 more | 6 hr |
| Oct 18, 2:19 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Baxter, Benton, Boone, Carroll, Clark, Clay and 42 more | 56 min |
| Oct 18, 4:40 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Clay, Greene, Randolph, Sharp | 35 min |
| Oct 18, 7:44 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Arkansas, Bradley, Calhoun, Clark, Clay, Cleburne and 43 more | 61 min |
| Oct 18, 9:45 AM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Arkansas, Calhoun, Cleveland, Dallas, Desha, Drew and 12 more | 5 hr |
| Oct 18, 11:29 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Arkansas, Calhoun, Cleveland, Dallas, Desha, Drew and 12 more | 91 min |
| Oct 18, 2:18 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Arkansas, Calhoun, Cleveland, Dallas, Desha, Drew and 12 more | 57 min |
| Oct 18, 4:05 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Baxter, Clay, Cleburne, Craighead, Crittenden, Cross and 15 more | 5 hr |
| Oct 18, 5:21 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Arkansas, Ashley, Bradley, Calhoun, Chicot, Clark and 22 more | 114 min |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Arkansas, 2004Tornado Watches in Mississippi, 2004Every 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.