Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Watches in 2009
Tornado Watch 250
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 6, 2009, 12:54 AM CDT for 26 counties in Arkansas; 22 counties in Mississippi; Bowie County, Red River County, Texas. It was in force for 5 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- May 6, 2009, 12:54 AM CDT (05:54 UTC)
- Expired
- May 6, 2009, 6:00 AM CDT
- In force
- 5 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 2 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
All 50 counties
Arkansas County, AR, Ashley County, AR, Bradley County, AR, Calhoun County, AR, Chicot County, AR, Clark County, AR, Cleveland County, AR, Columbia County, AR, Dallas County, AR, Desha County, AR, Drew County, AR, Grant County, AR, Hempstead County, AR, Hot Spring County, AR, Howard County, AR, Jefferson County, AR, Lafayette County, AR, Lincoln County, AR, Little River County, AR, Miller County, AR, Nevada County, AR, Ouachita County, AR, Phillips County, AR, Pike County, AR, Sevier County, AR, Union County, AR, Bolivar County, MS, Calhoun County, MS, Carroll County, MS, Chickasaw County, MS, Clay County, MS, Coahoma County, MS, Grenada County, MS, Itawamba County, MS, Lafayette County, MS, Lee County, MS, Leflore County, MS, Monroe County, MS, Montgomery County, MS, Panola County, MS, Pontotoc County, MS, Quitman County, MS, Sunflower County, MS, Tallahatchie County, MS, Union County, MS, Washington County, MS, Webster County, MS, Yalobusha County, MS, Bowie County, TX, Red River County, TX
The radar
The Little Rock radar (KLZK), 98 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 05:55 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
- 40%
- One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
- 40%
- 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
54 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 6, 12:54 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Clay, Webster | 51 min |
| May 6, 1:10 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Arkansas, Desha, Lincoln | 27 min |
| May 6, 1:12 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | LZK | Clark, Garland, Grant, Hot Spring, Montgomery, Pulaski and 1 more | 3 hr |
| May 6, 1:15 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Garland, Grant, Hot Spring, Saline | 60 min |
| May 6, 1:15 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Montgomery, Pike, Polk | 45 min |
| May 6, 1:17 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Arkansas, Monroe | 43 min |
| May 6, 1:20 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Calhoun, Chickasaw, Monroe | 70 min |
| May 6, 1:26 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Lee, Phillips | 64 min |
| May 6, 1:26 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Clay, Webster | 49 min |
| May 6, 1:27 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | MEG | Crittenden, Cross, Lee, Phillips, St. Francis | 6 hr |
| May 6, 1:29 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Arkansas, Jefferson, Lonoke, Prairie, Pulaski | 46 min |
| May 6, 1:43 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | LZK | Clark, Logan, Montgomery, Pike, Polk, Scott and 1 more | 3 hr |
| May 6, 1:44 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Grant, Jefferson, Lonoke, Pulaski | 46 min |
| May 6, 1:51 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | MEG | Lee, Phillips | 39 min |
| May 6, 2:02 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Clark, Dallas, Hot Spring | 43 min |
| May 6, 2:13 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Arkansas, Desha, Jefferson, Lonoke | 47 min |
| May 6, 2:15 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | LZK | Arkansas, Faulkner, Grant, Jefferson, Lonoke, Monroe and 5 more | 4 hr |
| May 6, 2:18 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Arkansas, Jefferson, Lonoke, Monroe, Prairie | 42 min |
| May 6, 2:22 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | MEG | Lee, Phillips | 38 min |
| May 6, 2:29 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | MEG | Coahoma, DeSoto, Panola, Quitman, Tallahatchie, Tate and 1 more | 6 hr |
| May 6, 2:40 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Lee, Phillips | 50 min |
| May 6, 2:45 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Phillips | 60 min |
| May 6, 2:59 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | LZK | Hot Spring | 10 hr |
| May 6, 3:00 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Bolivar | 45 min |
| May 6, 3:09 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Clark, Pike | 66 min |
| May 6, 3:15 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | DeSoto, Panola, Tate, Tunica | 45 min |
| May 6, 3:24 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Coahoma, Panola, Quitman, Tallahatchie, Tunica, Yalobusha | 66 min |
| May 6, 3:29 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | MEG | Itawamba, Lee, Tishomingo | 22 min |
| May 6, 3:35 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Cleveland, Dallas, Grant, Jefferson | 55 min |
| May 6, 3:39 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Clark, Dallas, Hot Spring | 51 min |
| May 6, 3:46 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Benton, DeSoto, Lafayette, Marshall, Panola, Tate | 44 min |
| May 6, 3:50 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | LZK | Arkansas, Clark, Cleveland, Dallas, Desha, Grant and 4 more | 4 hr |
| May 6, 4:00 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | MEG | Benton, Lafayette, Marshall, Tate, Tippah | 45 min |
| May 6, 4:06 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | MEG | Alcorn, Benton, Itawamba, Lafayette, Lee, Marshall and 7 more | 6 hr |
| May 6, 4:07 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Arkansas, Bradley, Calhoun, Cleveland, Dallas, Desha and 3 more | 53 min |
| May 6, 4:15 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Calhoun, Lafayette, Panola, Quitman, Tallahatchie, Yalobusha | 60 min |
| May 6, 4:18 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | MEG | Lafayette, Panola | 42 min |
| May 6, 4:19 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Bradley, Calhoun, Cleveland, Dallas, Drew, Ouachita | 56 min |
| May 6, 4:22 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Alcorn, Benton, Lafayette, Marshall, Tippah, Union | 53 min |
| May 6, 4:42 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Calhoun, Chickasaw, Lafayette, Pontotoc, Union, Yalobusha | 48 min |
| May 6, 4:46 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | LZK | Cleveland, Drew, Lincoln | 44 min |
| May 6, 5:00 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Desha, Drew, Lincoln | 48 min |
| May 6, 5:03 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Alcorn, Lee, Prentiss, Tippah, Tishomingo, Union | 42 min |
| May 6, 5:07 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Calhoun, Chickasaw, Lee, Pontotoc, Union | 68 min |
| May 6, 5:10 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Calhoun, Chickasaw, Tallahatchie, Yalobusha | 65 min |
| May 6, 5:11 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | JAN | Bolivar, Carroll, Grenada, Leflore, Montgomery, Sunflower | 7 hr |
| May 6, 5:13 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Carroll, Grenada, Montgomery, Webster | 62 min |
| May 6, 5:17 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Ashley, Chicot | 58 min |
| May 6, 5:20 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Bradley, Calhoun, Drew | 25 min |
| May 6, 5:32 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Alcorn, Itawamba, Lee, Prentiss, Tishomingo | 43 min |
| May 6, 5:37 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Chickasaw, Itawamba, Lee, Monroe | 68 min |
| May 6, 5:48 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Garland, Hot Spring, Saline | 42 min |
| May 6, 5:57 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Chickasaw, Monroe | 63 min |
| May 6, 6:00 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | JAN | Chicot | 8 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
Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 00:00Z, 5.9 hours before the alert went out and 212 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 3 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -164 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 617 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 37 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 61 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 89 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 5, 10:07 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Arkansas, Calhoun, Clark, Cleveland, Conway, Crittenden and 28 more | 83 min |
| May 5, 10:27 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Arkansas, Ashley, Bradley, Calhoun, Chicot, Clark and 49 more | 8 hr |
| May 5, 11:26 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Sebastian | 6 hr |
| May 6, 12:53 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Arkansas, Bradley, Calhoun, Clark, Cleveland, Dallas and 14 more | 37 min |
| May 6, 1:27 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Arkansas, Clark, Cleveland, Dallas, Desha, Faulkner and 18 more | 3 hr |
| May 6, 2:00 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Sebastian | 2 hr |
| May 6, 2:26 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Cleburne, Conway, Craighead, Crittenden, Cross, Faulkner and 23 more | 2 hr |
| May 6, 3:05 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Ashley, Bradley, Calhoun, Chicot, Clark, Cleveland and 18 more | 115 min |
| May 6, 5:29 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Columbia, Hempstead, Howard, Lafayette, Little River, Miller and 3 more | 8 hr |
| May 6, 5:45 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Ashley, Bradley, Calhoun, Chicot, Cleveland, Desha and 3 more | 7 hr |
| May 6, 6:58 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Ashley, Bradley, Calhoun, Chicot, Clark, Cleveland and 13 more | 3 hr |
| May 6, 7:22 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Ashley | 83 min |
| May 6, 11:34 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Claiborne, Copiah, Covington, Franklin, Hinds and 11 more | 86 min |
| May 6, 12:37 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Adams, Amite, Claiborne, Clarke, Copiah, Covington and 28 more | 6 hr |
| May 5, 7:19 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bosque, Brown, Callahan, Coke, Coleman, Comanche and 19 more | 86 min |
| May 5, 9:14 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Archer, Baylor, Bosque, Brown, Callahan, Coleman and 24 more | 31 min |
| May 5, 11:03 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Archer, Clay, Collin, Cooke, Denton, Fannin and 8 more | 117 min |
| May 6, 5:08 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bowie, Camp, Cass, Collin, Cooke, Delta and 22 more | 97 min |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Arkansas, 2009Tornado Watches in Mississippi, 2009Tornado Watches in Texas, 2009Every tornado watch in 2009
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.