Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Watches in 2008

Tornado Watch 128

March 17, 200837 counties in Arkansas; 22 counties in Oklahoma

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Mar 17, 2008, 10:16 PM CDT for 37 counties in Arkansas; 22 counties in Oklahoma. It was in force for 8 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Mar 17, 2008, 10:16 PM CDT (03:16 UTC)
Expired
Mar 18, 2008, 6:00 AM CDT
In force
8 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
1.5 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 59 counties

Baxter County, AR, Benton County, AR, Boone County, AR, Carroll County, AR, Cleburne County, AR, Conway County, AR, Crawford County, AR, Faulkner County, AR, Franklin County, AR, Fulton County, AR, Garland County, AR, Independence County, AR, Izard County, AR, Jackson County, AR, Johnson County, AR, Logan County, AR, Lonoke County, AR, Madison County, AR, Marion County, AR, Montgomery County, AR, Newton County, AR, Perry County, AR, Polk County, AR, Pope County, AR, Prairie County, AR, Pulaski County, AR, Saline County, AR, Scott County, AR, Searcy County, AR, Sebastian County, AR, Sharp County, AR, Stone County, AR, Van Buren County, AR, Washington County, AR, White County, AR, Woodruff County, AR, Yell County, AR, Adair County, OK, Atoka County, OK, Bryan County, OK, Cherokee County, OK, Choctaw County, OK, Coal County, OK, Haskell County, OK, Hughes County, OK, Johnston County, OK, Latimer County, OK, LeFlore County, OK, Marshall County, OK, McCurtain County, OK, McIntosh County, OK, Muskogee County, OK, Okfuskee County, OK, Okmulgee County, OK, Pittsburg County, OK, Pontotoc County, OK, Pushmataha County, OK, Sequoyah County, OK, Wagoner County, OK

The radar

The Western Arkansas radar (KSRX), 105 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:19 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.

What SPC expected

The probabilities SPC published with the watch, for the watch area over its life.

Two or more tornadoes
30%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
20%
Ten or more severe wind reports
30%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
5%
Ten or more severe hail reports
30%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
10%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
50%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 17, 10:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAMcIntosh, Pittsburg14 min
Mar 17, 10:25 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAMuskogee35 min
Mar 17, 10:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSACherokee, Wagoner45 min
Mar 17, 11:05 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSACherokee, Delaware, Mayes43 min
Mar 18, 12:20 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningTSABenton4 hr
Mar 18, 2:14 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNCoal, Hughes, Pontotoc, Seminole31 min
Mar 18, 2:21 AM CDTTornado WarningOUNHughes9 min
Mar 18, 2:36 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNHughes24 min
Mar 18, 2:56 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAHaskell, McIntosh, Pittsburg49 min
Mar 18, 3:56 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningTSABenton3 hr
Mar 18, 4:50 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningTSABenton, Washington6 hr

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 00:00Z, 3.3 hours before the alert went out and 168 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 00:00Z on 2008-03-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 00:00Z on 2008-03-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 442 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
931 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
63 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
442 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
503 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 17, 7:34 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaxter, Benton, Boone, Carroll, Crawford, Franklin and 11 more56 min
Mar 17, 9:36 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaxter, Benton, Boone, Carroll, Cleburne, Conway and 20 more114 min
Mar 18, 1:13 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCWashington62 min
Mar 18, 2:23 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaxter, Benton, Boone, Carroll, Fulton, Madison and 2 more2 hr
Mar 18, 2:46 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaxter, Cleburne, Conway, Crawford, Faulkner, Franklin and 27 more89 min
Mar 18, 5:54 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBenton, Boone, Carroll, Crawford, Madison, Washington2 hr
Mar 18, 9:26 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCalhoun, Clark, Columbia, Conway, Dallas, Garland and 19 more2 hr
Mar 18, 10:16 AM CDTTornado Watch PDSSPCArkansas, Clark, Clay, Cleburne, Cleveland, Columbia and 48 more7 hr
Mar 18, 10:59 AM CDTTornado Watch PDSSPCUnion8 hr
Mar 18, 11:54 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaxter, Benton, Boone, Carroll, Crawford, Franklin and 6 more3 hr
Mar 18, 12:10 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCArkansas, Clark, Cleburne, Cleveland, Conway, Craighead and 47 more2 hr
Mar 18, 1:51 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCPolk, Sevier3 hr
Mar 18, 3:54 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCClark, Cleburne, Columbia, Dallas, Faulkner, Garland and 21 more2 hr
Mar 18, 4:46 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCArkansas, Clark, Clay, Craighead, Crittenden, Cross and 19 more59 min
Mar 18, 5:19 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCArkansas, Bradley, Calhoun, Clark, Clay, Cleburne and 43 more11 hr
Mar 18, 6:06 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCClark, Clay, Cleburne, Conway, Craighead, Cross and 20 more3 hr
Mar 18, 6:47 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCUnion9 hr
Mar 17, 7:09 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCCaddo, Canadian, Carter, Cleveland, Coal, Comanche and 19 more7 hr
Mar 17, 10:21 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBlaine, Caddo, Canadian, Carter, Cleveland, Coal and 25 more54 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Arkansas, 2008Tornado Watches in Oklahoma, 2008Every tornado watch in 2008

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.