Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Watches in 2011
Tornado Watch 330
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 22, 2011, 3:24 PM CDT for 28 counties in Arkansas. It was in force for 6 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- May 22, 2011, 3:24 PM CDT (20:24 UTC)
- Expired
- May 22, 2011, 8:54 PM CDT
- In force
- 6 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 2 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
All 28 counties
Baxter County, AR, Boone County, AR, Clay County, AR, Cleburne County, AR, Conway County, AR, Craighead County, AR, Crittenden County, AR, Cross County, AR, Faulkner County, AR, Fulton County, AR, Greene County, AR, Independence County, AR, Izard County, AR, Jackson County, AR, Johnson County, AR, Lawrence County, AR, Marion County, AR, Newton County, AR, Poinsett County, AR, Pope County, AR, Randolph County, AR, Searcy County, AR, Sharp County, AR, St. Francis County, AR, Stone County, AR, Van Buren County, AR, White County, AR, Woodruff County, AR
The radar
The Little Rock radar (KLZK), 125 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:27 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
- 20%
- 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.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 22, 3:55 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Cleburne, Independence, Izard, Stone, Van Buren | 50 min |
| May 22, 4:46 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Crittenden, Cross, Poinsett | 44 min |
| May 22, 4:54 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Independence, Jackson, Sharp, Stone | 21 min |
| May 22, 5:08 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | LZK | Baxter, Newton, Pope, Searcy, Stone, Van Buren | 3 hr |
| May 22, 5:08 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Independence, Jackson | 22 min |
| May 22, 5:15 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Baxter, Izard, Stone | 45 min |
| May 22, 5:20 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Crittenden, Mississippi, Poinsett | 40 min |
| May 22, 6:00 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Izard, Sharp | 45 min |
| May 22, 6:05 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | LZK | Baxter, Izard, Stone | 3 hr |
| May 22, 6:43 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Izard, Sharp | 32 min |
| May 22, 6:58 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Lawrence, Randolph | 41 min |
| May 22, 7:08 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Fulton, Izard, Sharp | 37 min |
| May 22, 7:47 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MEG | Randolph | 43 min |
| May 22, 8:45 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Boone, Marion | 30 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 12:00Z, 8.4 hours before the alert went out and 166 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
- 2645 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -122 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 678 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 44 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 424 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 422 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 16.9
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
236
WWUS20 KWNS 222025
SEL0
SPC WW 222025
ARZ000-230300-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 330
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
325 PM CDT SUN MAY 22 2011
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
NORTHERN ARKANSAS
EFFECTIVE THIS SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 325 PM UNTIL
1000 PM 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 50 STATUTE
MILES NORTH AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 40 MILES SOUTHWEST OF
HARRISON ARKANSAS TO 15 MILES EAST SOUTHEAST OF JONESBORO
ARKANSAS. FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE
ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU0).
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 322...WW 323...WW
324...WW 325...WW 326...WW 327...WW 328...WW 329...
DISCUSSION...RAPID AIR MASS RECOVERY IS UNDERWAY THROUGH CNTRL AR TO
THE S OF INTENSIFYING STORMS NW OF LIT. CURRENT LIT VWP INDICATES A
STRONGLY SHEARED ENVIRONMENT WITH 0-1 KM SRH OF 250 M2/S2 WHICH WILL
SERVE TO ENHANCE UPDRAFT ROTATION. WHILE LARGE HAIL WILL BE THE
PRIMARY HAZARD WITH ANY SUPERCELLS THAT EVOLVE...TORNADOES WILL BE
POSSIBLE GIVEN THE STRONG LOW-LEVEL SHEAR AND MOIST/LOW LCL AIR
MASS.
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 27030.
...MEADSPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 21, 8:31 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Arkansas, Ashley, Bradley, Calhoun, Clark, Cleburne and 45 more | 89 min |
| May 22, 5:18 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Arkansas, Calhoun, Clark, Cleburne, Cleveland, Conway and 32 more | 57 min |
| May 22, 7:03 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Arkansas, Bradley, Calhoun, Clark, Cleveland, Conway and 30 more | 7 hr |
| May 22, 11:15 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Arkansas, Bradley, Calhoun, Clark, Cleveland, Conway and 26 more | 90 min |
| May 22, 1:06 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Baxter, Benton, Boone, Carroll, Fulton, Marion | 114 min |
| May 22, 1:09 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Arkansas, Crittenden, Cross, Grant, Jefferson, Lee and 7 more | 66 min |
| May 22, 1:27 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Benton, Carroll, Crawford, Franklin, Madison, Sebastian and 1 more | 8 hr |
| May 22, 3:10 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Baxter, Boone, Cleburne, Independence, Izard, Jackson and 9 more | 65 min |
| May 22, 3:48 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Benton, Carroll, Crawford, Franklin, Madison, Washington | 117 min |
| May 22, 5:21 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Baxter, Boone, Carroll, Clay, Cleburne, Conway and 22 more | 54 min |
| May 22, 6:10 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Benton, Carroll, Crawford, Franklin, Madison, Washington | 65 min |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Arkansas, 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.