Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Watches in 2005

Tornado Watch 815

September 24, 200523 counties in Arkansas; Tunica County, Mississippi

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Sep 24, 2005, 3:55 PM CDT for 23 counties in Arkansas; Tunica County, Mississippi. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Sep 24, 2005, 3:55 PM CDT (20:55 UTC)
Expired
Sep 24, 2005, 8:51 PM CDT
In force
5 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 24 counties

Cleburne County, AR, Conway County, AR, Crittenden County, AR, Cross County, AR, Faulkner County, AR, Garland County, AR, Independence County, AR, Jackson County, AR, Lee County, AR, Lonoke County, AR, Mississippi County, AR, Monroe County, AR, Perry County, AR, Phillips County, AR, Poinsett County, AR, Pope County, AR, Prairie County, AR, Pulaski County, AR, Saline County, AR, St. Francis County, AR, Van Buren County, AR, White County, AR, Woodruff County, AR, Tunica County, MS

The radar

The Little Rock radar (KLZK), 47 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:58 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

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 24, 5:41 PM CDTTornado WarningLZKConway, Faulkner34 min
Sep 24, 5:59 PM CDTTornado WarningLZKFaulkner, Lonoke, Pulaski46 min
Sep 24, 6:27 PM CDTTornado WarningLZKConway, Faulkner63 min
Sep 24, 6:56 PM CDTTornado WarningLZKPrairie, White49 min
Sep 24, 7:19 PM CDTTornado WarningLZKFaulkner41 min
Sep 24, 7:35 PM CDTTornado WarningLZKCleburne, White40 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, 8.9 hours before the alert went out and 195 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Little Rock, AR at 12:00Z on 2005-09-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 98 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Little Rock, AR at 12:00Z on 2005-09-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 50 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
98 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-181 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1182 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
13 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
50 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
21 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 242102
SEL5  
SPC WW 242102
ARZ000-MSZ000-TNZ000-250200-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 815
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
355 PM CDT SAT SEP 24 2005

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

       CENTRAL AND EASTERN ARKANSAS
       EXTREME NORTHWESTERN MISSISSIPPI
       EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN TENNESSEE

EFFECTIVE THIS SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 355 PM UNTIL
900 PM CDT.

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

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 50 STATUTE MILES
NORTH AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 45 MILES NORTH NORTHWEST OF HOT
SPRINGS ARKANSAS TO MEMPHIS TENNESSEE. FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION
OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS
WOU5).

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 813...WW 814...

DISCUSSION...AS CIRCULATION CENTER OF TS RITA CONTINUES MOVING NWD
ACROSS NWRN LA...FAVORABLY SHEARED AND AT LEAST MARGINALLY BUOYANT
AIR MASS WILL SUPPORT POTENTIAL FOR TORNADIC SUPERCELLS TO EXPAND
NWD OVER WW AREA.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH EXTREME
TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI
WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 400. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 16050.


...EDWARDS

354,0932 354,0895 341,0895 342,0932

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 24, 12:30 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCArkansas, Ashley, Bradley, Calhoun, Chicot, Clark and 10 more3 hr
Sep 24, 12:49 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCColumbia, Hempstead, Lafayette, Little River, Miller, Nevada3 hr
Sep 24, 2:57 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCArkansas, Ashley, Bradley, Calhoun, Chicot, Clark and 10 more93 min
Sep 24, 4:20 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCArkansas, Ashley, Bradley, Calhoun, Chicot, Clark and 10 more5 hr
Sep 24, 6:07 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCArkansas, Ashley, Bradley, Calhoun, Chicot, Clark and 33 more83 min
Sep 24, 5:13 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdams, Amite, Claiborne, Copiah, Covington, Forrest and 26 more32 min
Sep 24, 5:45 AM CDTTornado WatchSPCAdams, Amite, Claiborne, Clarke, Copiah, Covington and 32 more7 hr
Sep 24, 10:27 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdams, Amite, Claiborne, Clarke, Copiah, Covington and 37 more2 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Arkansas, 2005Tornado Watches in Mississippi, 2005Every tornado watch in 2005

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.