Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Watches in 2011

Tornado Watch 26

February 27, 201147 counties in Arkansas; 17 counties in Oklahoma; 5 counties in Texas

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Feb 27, 2011, 10:04 PM CST for 47 counties in Arkansas; 17 counties in Oklahoma; 5 counties in Texas. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Feb 27, 2011, 10:04 PM CST (04:04 UTC)
Expired
Feb 28, 2011, 4:00 AM CST
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
2 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 69 counties

Baxter County, AR, Benton County, AR, Boone County, AR, Carroll County, AR, Clark County, AR, Cleburne County, AR, Conway County, AR, Crawford County, AR, Dallas County, AR, Faulkner County, AR, Franklin County, AR, Fulton County, AR, Garland County, AR, Grant County, AR, Hempstead County, AR, Hot Spring County, AR, Howard County, AR, Independence County, AR, Izard County, AR, Jackson County, AR, Johnson County, AR, Little River County, AR, Logan County, AR, Madison County, AR, Marion County, AR, Miller County, AR, Montgomery County, AR, Nevada County, AR, Newton County, AR, Ouachita County, AR, Perry County, AR, Pike County, AR, Polk County, AR, Pope County, AR, Pulaski County, AR, Saline County, AR, Scott County, AR, Searcy County, AR, Sebastian County, AR, Sevier 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, Delaware County, OK, Haskell County, OK, Latimer County, OK, LeFlore County, OK, Mayes County, OK, McCurtain County, OK, McIntosh County, OK, Muskogee County, OK, Pittsburg County, OK, Pushmataha County, OK, Sequoyah County, OK, Wagoner County, OK, Bowie County, TX, Fannin County, TX, Grayson County, TX, Lamar County, TX, Red River County, TX

The radar

The Western Arkansas radar (KSRX), 2 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:07 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
60%
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
80%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Feb 27, 10:39 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAWashington51 min
Feb 27, 10:47 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAAdair, Cherokee28 min
Feb 27, 10:48 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSACrawford, Sebastian42 min
Feb 27, 10:50 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSACrawford, Franklin40 min
Feb 27, 10:53 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAChoctaw, Pushmataha52 min
Feb 27, 11:00 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSABenton, Washington30 min
Feb 27, 11:27 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSACrawford, Franklin, Sebastian48 min
Feb 27, 11:28 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSABenton, Carroll, Madison, Washington47 min
Feb 27, 11:38 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSALeFlore, Pushmataha52 min
Feb 27, 11:54 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKBoone, Marion51 min
Feb 28, 12:10 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSACrawford, Franklin, Madison32 min
Feb 28, 12:20 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKBoone, Johnson, Newton, Pope55 min
Feb 28, 12:23 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKBaxter, Fulton, Izard52 min
Feb 28, 1:09 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKJohnson, Pope, Searcy, Van Buren51 min
Feb 28, 1:15 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKFulton, Izard, Sharp45 min
Feb 28, 1:41 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKBaxter, Fulton, Izard, Marion, Searcy, Stone49 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, 4.1 hours before the alert went out and 188 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 2011-02-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 626 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 2011-02-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 369 square meters per square second.1939587897117136156Sfc1 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
626 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-80 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1011 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
65 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
369 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
472 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.5
Supercell composite
7.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

501 
WWUS20 KWNS 280406
SEL6
SPC WW 280406
ARZ000-OKZ000-TXZ000-281000-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 26
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1005 PM CST SUN FEB 27 2011

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

       CENTRAL AND WESTERN ARKANSAS
       EASTERN OKLAHOMA
       FAR NORTHEAST TEXAS

EFFECTIVE THIS SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY MORNING FROM 1005 PM UNTIL
400 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 105 STATUTE
MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 25 MILES WEST NORTHWEST OF
HARRISON 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 WOU6).

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 24...WW 25...

DISCUSSION...TSTMS CONTINUE TO INCREASE IN VICINITY OF THE
DRYLINE/PACIFIC COLD FRONT FROM ECNTRL OK INTO FAR NERN TX.  EXPECT
A QLCS WILL EVOLVE THROUGH EARLY MORNING MONDAY AND MATURE OVER
WRN/CNTRL AR.  ALTHOUGH THE STORM MODE MAY LARGELY BE LINEAR WITH
EMBEDDED BOWS/LEWPS GIVING CORRIDORS OF HIGH WINDS...POTENTIAL
EXISTS FOR A FEW TORNADOES AS 0-1KM SRH REMAINS QUITE HIGH.

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
450. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 25040.


...RACY/HART

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Feb 27, 8:07 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCrawford, Franklin, Howard, Little River, Logan, Madison and 7 more53 min
Feb 27, 11:49 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCClark, Conway, Crawford, Franklin, Garland, Hempstead and 20 more86 min
Feb 28, 1:05 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCClay, Craighead, Crittenden, Cross, Greene, Mississippi and 2 more25 min
Feb 28, 1:33 AM CSTTornado WatchSPCClay, Craighead, Crittenden, Cross, Greene, Lawrence and 4 more7 hr
Feb 28, 5:28 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAshley, Chicot, Desha, Phillips62 min
Feb 28, 5:59 AM CSTTornado WatchSPCLee, Phillips7 hr
Feb 27, 10:54 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAnderson, Bell, Bosque, Cherokee, Collin, Coryell and 24 more96 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Arkansas, 2011Tornado Watches in Oklahoma, 2011Tornado Watches in Texas, 2011Every tornado watch in 2011

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.