Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Watches in 2008

Tornado Watch 183

April 9, 200812 counties in Arkansas; McCurtain County, Oklahoma; Red River County, Texas

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Apr 9, 2008, 8:10 PM CDT for 12 counties in Arkansas; McCurtain County, Oklahoma; Red River County, Texas. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Apr 9, 2008, 8:10 PM CDT (01:10 UTC)
Expired
Apr 10, 2008, 1:45 AM CDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
2 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt

Counties Hempstead County, AR, Howard County, AR, Johnson County, AR, Little River County, AR, Logan County, AR, Montgomery County, AR, Pike County, AR, Polk County, AR, Pope County, AR, Scott County, AR, Sevier County, AR, Yell County, AR, McCurtain County, OK, Red River County, TX

The radar

The Western Arkansas radar (KSRX), 46 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:12 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
60%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
30%
Ten or more severe wind reports
30%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
30%
Ten or more severe hail reports
40%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
30%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
70%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 9, 8:16 PM CDTTornado WarningSHVMcCurtain44 min
Apr 9, 8:58 PM CDTTornado WarningSHVMcCurtain32 min
Apr 9, 9:05 PM CDTTornado WarningLZKPolk, Scott40 min
Apr 9, 9:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKJohnson, Newton, Pope41 min
Apr 9, 9:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKMontgomery, Polk, Scott45 min
Apr 9, 10:12 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningLZKPolk3 hr
Apr 9, 10:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKLogan, Yell48 min
Apr 9, 11:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKConway, Pope, Yell44 min
Apr 9, 11:54 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningLZKLogan, Montgomery, Pike, Polk, Scott, Yell5 hr
Apr 9, 11:58 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningLZKJohnson, Logan, Newton, Pope, Searcy, Yell5 hr
Apr 10, 12:21 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKJohnson, Logan, Pope39 min
Apr 10, 12:36 AM CDTTornado WarningLZKJohnson, Logan, Pope39 min
Apr 10, 1:12 AM CDTTornado WarningLZKJohnson, Pope, Searcy, Van Buren48 min
Apr 10, 1:22 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningLZKBaxter, Cleburne, Conway, Izard, Perry, Pope and 4 more4 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, 1.2 hours before the alert went out and 230 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 2008-04-10Temperature 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 2008-04-10The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 315 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
615 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
62 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
315 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
393 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 100105
SEL3  
SPC WW 100105
ARZ000-OKZ000-TXZ000-100800-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 183
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
805 PM CDT WED APR 9 2008

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

       WESTERN ARKANSAS
       SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA
       NORTHEAST TEXAS

EFFECTIVE THIS WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY MORNING FROM 805 PM
UNTIL 300 AM 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 APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 45 STATUTE
MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 40 MILES NORTHEAST OF FORT
SMITH ARKANSAS TO 35 MILES SOUTH SOUTHWEST OF DE QUEEN ARKANSAS. 
FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH
OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU3).

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 179...WW 180...WW
181...WW 182...

DISCUSSION...SCATTERED INTENSE/SUPERCELL THUNDERSTORMS ARE MOVING
EASTWARD ACROSS EASTERN OK INTO WESTERN AR.  THESE STORMS ARE IN
REGION OF STRONG ASCENT AHEAD OF SUB-SYNOPTIC SURFACE LOW.  VERY
STRONG WIND FIELDS AND MODERATE INSTABILITY SHOULD MAINTAIN THE RISK
OF LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS...AND TORNADOES FOR SEVERAL HOURS.

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
500. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24035.


...HART

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 9, 7:28 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCrawford, Franklin, Hempstead, Howard, Johnson, Little River and 8 more62 min
Apr 9, 10:40 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCCrawford, Franklin, Sebastian7 hr
Apr 10, 1:45 AM CDTTornado WatchSPCBaxter, Boone, Cleburne, Conway, Faulkner, Fulton and 16 more8 hr
Apr 10, 3:00 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCClay, Craighead, Crittenden, Cross, Greene, Mississippi and 1 more60 min
Apr 10, 3:28 AM CDTTornado WatchSPCClay, Craighead, Crittenden, Cross, Greene, Lawrence and 4 more7 hr
Apr 10, 3:54 AM CDTTornado WatchSPCBenton, Carroll, Crawford, Franklin, Hempstead, Howard and 10 more8 hr
Apr 10, 5:55 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCrawford, Franklin, Howard, Johnson, Little River, Logan and 4 more65 min
Apr 10, 8:32 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAshley, Bradley, Calhoun, Clark, Cleveland, Columbia and 22 more58 min
Apr 10, 8:42 AM CDTTornado WatchSPCArkansas, Ashley, Bradley, Calhoun, Chicot, Clark and 19 more7 hr
Apr 10, 9:27 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCClay, Cleburne, Conway, Craighead, Crittenden, Cross and 16 more2 hr
Apr 10, 9:51 AM CDTTornado WatchSPCClay, Cleburne, Conway, Craighead, Crittenden, Cross and 19 more7 hr
Apr 10, 10:51 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCArkansas, Ashley, Bradley, Calhoun, Clay, Cleveland and 28 more84 min
Apr 10, 1:41 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCArkansas, Ashley, Bradley, Calhoun, Clay, Cleveland and 20 more2 hr
Apr 9, 8:13 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAtoka, Bryan, Carter, Choctaw, Coal, Garvin and 9 more62 min
Apr 9, 10:01 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAtoka, Bryan, Carter, Choctaw, Coal, Garvin and 14 more59 min
Apr 9, 11:22 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBeckham, Blaine, Caddo, Canadian, Cleveland, Comanche and 16 more53 min
Apr 10, 1:36 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBryan, Carter, Jefferson, Johnston, Love, Marshall and 1 more54 min
Apr 10, 3:30 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAtoka, Bryan, Choctaw, Coal, Haskell, Latimer and 8 more60 min
Apr 10, 3:30 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlfalfa, Ellis, Grant, Harper, Kay, Woods and 1 more75 min
Apr 9, 7:44 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCBorden, Brown, Callahan, Coke, Coleman, Concho and 34 more8 hr
Apr 9, 11:46 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAndrews, Borden, Brown, Callahan, Coke, Coleman and 35 more59 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Arkansas, 2008Tornado Watches in Oklahoma, 2008Tornado Watches in Texas, 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.