Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Watches in 2008

Tornado Watch 942

December 8, 2008Little River County, Miller County, Arkansas; Choctaw County, McCurtain County, Pushmataha County, Oklahoma; 37 counties in Texas

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Dec 8, 2008, 11:31 PM CST for Little River County, Miller County, Arkansas; Choctaw County, McCurtain County, Pushmataha County, Oklahoma; 37 counties in Texas. It was in force for 7 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Dec 8, 2008, 11:31 PM CST (05:31 UTC)
Expired
Dec 9, 2008, 7:00 AM CST
In force
7 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
2 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 42 counties

Little River County, AR, Miller County, AR, Choctaw County, OK, McCurtain County, OK, Pushmataha County, OK, Anderson County, TX, Bell County, TX, Bowie County, TX, Camp County, TX, Cass County, TX, Cherokee County, TX, Delta County, TX, Ellis County, TX, Falls County, TX, Fannin County, TX, Franklin County, TX, Freestone County, TX, Gregg County, TX, Harrison County, TX, Henderson County, TX, Hill County, TX, Hopkins County, TX, Hunt County, TX, Kaufman County, TX, Lamar County, TX, Leon County, TX, Limestone County, TX, Marion County, TX, McLennan County, TX, Milam County, TX, Morris County, TX, Navarro County, TX, Rains County, TX, Red River County, TX, Robertson County, TX, Rockwall County, TX, Rusk County, TX, Smith County, TX, Titus County, TX, Upshur County, TX, Van Zandt County, TX, Wood County, TX

The radar

The Dallas/Ft Worth radar (KFWS), 150 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 05:34 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
50%
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
50%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
30%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
80%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Dec 8, 11:51 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDEllis, Hill, Navarro39 min
Dec 9, 12:29 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDEllis, Navarro31 min
Dec 9, 12:53 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDEllis, Henderson, Kaufman, Navarro40 min
Dec 9, 5:22 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDFreestone, Limestone, Navarro53 min
Dec 9, 6:29 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDAnderson49 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

Fort Worth, TX (KFWD), launched 00:00Z, 5.5 hours before the alert went out and 145 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, Fort Worth, TX at 00:00Z on 2008-12-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 259 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, Fort Worth, TX at 00:00Z on 2008-12-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 307 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
259 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-225 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1028 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
54 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
307 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
336 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

032 
WWUS20 KWNS 090530
SEL2  
SPC WW 090530
ARZ000-OKZ000-TXZ000-091200-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 942
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1130 PM CST MON DEC 8 2008

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

       FAR SOUTHWEST ARKANSAS
       FAR SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA
       CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST TEXAS

EFFECTIVE THIS MONDAY NIGHT AND TUESDAY MORNING FROM 1130 PM
UNTIL 600 AM 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 70 STATUTE
MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 20 MILES WEST NORTHWEST OF DE
QUEEN ARKANSAS TO 50 MILES EAST SOUTHEAST OF TEMPLE TEXAS.  FOR A
COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE
UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU2).

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 941...

DISCUSSION...BROKEN LINE OF STORMS CONTINUES TO INTENSIFY AHEAD OF
INTENSE UPPER SYSTEM LATE THIS EVENING.  SHEAR REMAINS QUITE STRONG
AND WILL BE SUPPORTIVE OF SUPERCELLS...AND POSSIBLE TORNADOES...AS
ACTIVITY SHIFTS ENEWD OVERNIGHT.

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
400. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 26040.


...EVANS

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Dec 9, 12:10 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBenton, Boone, Carroll, Madison, Marion, Newton and 1 more35 min
Dec 9, 12:22 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBaxter, Benton, Boone, Carroll, Cleburne, Conway and 24 more4 hr
Dec 9, 1:20 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaxter, Benton, Boone, Carroll, Cleburne, Conway and 25 more25 min
Dec 9, 2:17 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCLittle River, Miller58 min
Dec 9, 3:41 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAshley, Bradley, Calhoun, Clark, Cleveland, Columbia and 36 more64 min
Dec 9, 4:11 AM CSTTornado WatchSPCArkansas, Bradley, Calhoun, Clark, Cleveland, Columbia and 25 more7 hr
Dec 9, 7:41 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCArkansas, Ashley, Bradley, Calhoun, Chicot, Clark and 21 more64 min
Dec 9, 9:32 AM CSTTornado WatchSPCAshley, Bradley, Chicot, Desha, Drew, Union6 hr
Dec 9, 10:12 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCArkansas, Ashley, Bradley, Calhoun, Chicot, Cleveland and 10 more93 min
Dec 9, 2:18 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCChicot87 min
Dec 8, 7:10 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBryan, Carter, Love, Marshall2 hr
Dec 8, 9:37 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAnderson, Bosque, Camp, Cherokee, Collin, Cooke and 36 more5 hr
Dec 8, 11:14 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAnderson, Camp, Delta, Franklin, Freestone, Henderson and 16 more91 min
Dec 9, 2:30 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBosque, Collin, Dallas, Grayson30 min
Dec 9, 3:51 PM CSTTornado WatchSPCJasper, Jefferson, Newton, Orange9 hr

Nearby

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