Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Watches in 2006

Tornado Watch 34

February 16, 200644 counties in Arkansas; 4 counties in Oklahoma

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Feb 16, 2006, 1:49 PM CST for 44 counties in Arkansas; 4 counties in Oklahoma. It was in force for 7 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Feb 16, 2006, 1:49 PM CST (19:49 UTC)
Expired
Feb 16, 2006, 9:00 PM CST
In force
7 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 48 counties

Baxter County, AR, Boone County, AR, Carroll County, AR, Clark County, AR, Cleburne County, AR, Conway County, AR, Crawford County, AR, Dallas County, AR, Faulkner County, AR, Franklin County, AR, Fulton County, AR, Garland County, AR, Grant County, AR, Hempstead County, AR, Hot Spring County, AR, Howard County, AR, Independence County, AR, Izard County, AR, Johnson County, AR, Little River County, AR, Logan County, AR, Lonoke County, AR, Madison County, AR, Marion County, AR, Montgomery County, AR, Nevada County, AR, Newton County, AR, Ouachita County, AR, Perry County, AR, Pike County, AR, Polk County, AR, Pope County, AR, Pulaski County, AR, Saline County, AR, Scott County, AR, Searcy County, AR, Sebastian County, AR, Sevier County, AR, Sharp County, AR, Stone County, AR, Van Buren County, AR, Washington County, AR, White County, AR, Yell County, AR, Choctaw County, OK, LeFlore County, OK, McCurtain County, OK, Pushmataha County, OK

The radar

The Western Arkansas radar (KSRX), 86 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:50 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

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Feb 16, 3:13 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSACarroll13 min
Feb 16, 3:20 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKBoone25 min
Feb 16, 3:43 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKBoone, Marion47 min
Feb 16, 3:51 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKJohnson, Newton39 min
Feb 16, 3:56 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKBaxter, Marion49 min
Feb 16, 4:23 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKFulton52 min
Feb 16, 4:32 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKJohnson, Newton, Pope, Searcy43 min
Feb 16, 4:52 PM CSTTornado WarningLZKFulton23 min
Feb 16, 5:09 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKSharp21 min
Feb 16, 5:15 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKSearcy, Stone, Van Buren45 min
Feb 16, 5:58 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKCleburne, Stone, Van Buren47 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

Springfield, MO (KSGF), launched 12:00Z, 7.8 hours before the alert went out and 165 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, Springfield, MO at 12:00Z on 2006-02-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 22 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, Springfield, MO at 12:00Z on 2006-02-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 530 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
22 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-433 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
810 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
57 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
530 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
609 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 161949
SEL4  
SPC WW 161949
ARZ000-OKZ000-170300-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 34
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
150 PM CST THU FEB 16 2006

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

       NORTHERN AND WESTERN ARKANSAS
       SOUTHEASTERN OKLAHOMA

EFFECTIVE THIS THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 150 PM UNTIL
900 PM CST.

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 APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 75 STATUTE MILES
EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 20 MILES NORTH NORTHEAST OF FLIPPIN
ARKANSAS TO 20 MILES SOUTH OF DE QUEEN ARKANSAS.  FOR A COMPLETE
DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE
(WOUS64 KWNS WOU4).

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 33...

DISCUSSION...THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP RAPIDLY AHEAD OF COLD
FRONT NWRN CORNER AR SWWD TO OK/TX BORDER.  AIR MASS HAS BECOME
MODERATELY UNSTABLE WHICH COUPLED WITH VERY STRONG SHEAR PROFILES
WILL SUPPORT DEVELOPMENT OF BOTH SHORT LINES/BOWS AND ISOLATED
TORNADIC SUPERCELLS.

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 450.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24040.


...HALES

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Feb 16, 1:10 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBenton, Crawford, Franklin, Johnson, Logan, Madison and 6 more95 min
Feb 16, 4:55 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCClay, Craighead, Crittenden, Cross, Greene, Lee and 4 more95 min
Feb 16, 5:13 PM CSTTornado WatchSPCArkansas, Clay, Craighead, Crittenden, Cross, Greene and 12 more6 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Arkansas, 2006Tornado Watches in Oklahoma, 2006Every tornado watch in 2006

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.