Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Watches in 2008

Tornado Watch 276

May 7, 200842 counties in Arkansas; 20 parishes in Louisiana

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 7, 2008, 9:35 PM CDT for 42 counties in Arkansas; 20 parishes in Louisiana. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 7, 2008, 9:35 PM CDT (02:35 UTC)
Expired
May 8, 2008, 3:00 AM CDT
In force
5 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
1.5 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 62 counties

Arkansas County, AR, Ashley County, AR, Baxter County, AR, Boone County, AR, Bradley County, AR, Calhoun County, AR, Chicot County, AR, Clark County, AR, Cleburne County, AR, Cleveland County, AR, Conway County, AR, Dallas County, AR, Desha County, AR, Drew County, AR, Faulkner County, AR, Fulton County, AR, Garland County, AR, Grant County, AR, Hot Spring County, AR, Independence County, AR, Izard County, AR, Jackson County, AR, Jefferson County, AR, Johnson County, AR, Lincoln County, AR, Lonoke County, AR, Marion County, AR, Monroe County, AR, Newton County, AR, Ouachita County, AR, Perry County, AR, Pope County, AR, Prairie County, AR, Pulaski County, AR, Saline County, AR, Searcy County, AR, Sharp County, AR, Stone County, AR, Union County, AR, Van Buren County, AR, White County, AR, Woodruff County, AR, Bienville Parish, LA, Caldwell Parish, LA, Catahoula Parish, LA, Claiborne Parish, LA, Concordia Parish, LA, East Carroll Parish, LA, Franklin Parish, LA, Grant Parish, LA, Jackson Parish, LA, LaSalle Parish, LA, Lincoln Parish, LA, Madison Parish, LA, Morehouse Parish, LA, Natchitoches Parish, LA, Ouachita Parish, LA, Richland Parish, LA, Tensas Parish, LA, Union Parish, LA, West Carroll Parish, LA, Winn Parish, LA

The radar

The Little Rock radar (KLZK), 51 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:36 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
30%
Ten or more severe wind reports
60%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
30%
Ten or more severe hail reports
50%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
30%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
90%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 7, 9:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVColumbia, Union63 min
May 7, 9:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVNatchitoches, Sabine53 min
May 7, 10:33 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVUnion57 min
May 7, 10:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVBienville, Grant, Jackson, Natchitoches, Red River, Sabine and 1 more61 min
May 7, 11:08 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVBienville, Jackson, Lincoln, Ouachita, Union67 min
May 7, 11:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVCaldwell, Grant, Jackson, LaSalle, Winn59 min
May 7, 11:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVNatchitoches, Sabine51 min
May 7, 11:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANAshley64 min
May 7, 11:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVCaldwell, Jackson, Ouachita, Union47 min
May 8, 12:45 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVGrant, LaSalle, Winn60 min
May 8, 12:48 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVCaldwell42 min
May 8, 12:50 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANFranklin, Richland40 min
May 8, 12:59 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANChicot46 min
May 8, 1:40 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANEast Carroll, Franklin, Madison, Tensas50 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 00:00Z, 2.6 hours before the alert went out and 297 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 2008-05-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 29 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 00:00Z on 2008-05-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 126 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
29 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-35 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
562 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
67 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
126 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
220 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
May 7, 10:28 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCArkansas, Ashley, Baxter, Boone, Bradley, Calhoun and 38 more92 min
May 7, 11:49 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAshley, Chicot116 min
May 8, 7:48 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAttala, Calhoun, Carroll, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Clay and 21 more87 min
May 8, 8:04 AM CDTTornado WatchSPCAlcorn, Attala, Calhoun, Carroll, Chickasaw, Choctaw and 22 more6 hr
May 8, 10:07 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlcorn, Attala, Calhoun, Carroll, Chickasaw, Choctaw and 23 more83 min
May 8, 12:13 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCKemper, Lauderdale, Neshoba, Newton, Noxubee92 min
May 8, 12:40 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCClarke, Covington, Jasper, Jones, Kemper, Lauderdale and 6 more5 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Arkansas, 2008Tornado Watches in Louisiana, 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.