Tornado Watch 88

Issued

Mar 19, 2012, 6:53 PM CDT (23:53 UTC)

Expired

Mar 20, 2012, 12:00 AM CDT

In force

5 hr

Issued by

the Storm Prediction Center

Largest hail expected

1.5 in

Strongest gust expected

60 kt

Counties Benton County, AR, Carroll County, AR, Crawford County, AR, Franklin County, AR, Madison County, AR, Sebastian County, AR, Washington County, AR, Adair County, OK, Cherokee County, OK, Choctaw County, OK, Delaware County, OK, Haskell County, OK, Latimer County, OK, LeFlore County, OK, McIntosh County, OK, Muskogee County, OK, Pittsburg County, OK, Pushmataha County, OK, Sequoyah County, OK

The Western Arkansas radar (KSRX), 56 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:55 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.

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%

• Mesoscale Discussion 293Mar 19, 3:55 PM CDT
• Mesoscale Discussion 295Mar 19, 6:32 PM CDT
• Mesoscale Discussion 298Mar 19, 8:48 PM CDT

505 
WWUS20 KWNS 192350
SEL8
SPC WW 192350
ARZ000-OKZ000-200500-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 88
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
655 PM CDT MON MAR 19 2012

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

       NORTHWEST ARKANSAS
       EASTERN OKLAHOMA

EFFECTIVE THIS MONDAY NIGHT FROM 655 PM UNTIL MIDNIGHT CDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 1.5 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 EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 35 MILES NORTH NORTHEAST OF
FAYETTEVILLE ARKANSAS TO 40 MILES SOUTH OF MCALESTER OKLAHOMA.
FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH
OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU8).

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 85...WW 86...WW 87...

DISCUSSION...ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS HAVE BEGUN FORMING IN THE WARM
SECTOR ACROSS EASTERN OK...WHERE STRONG VERTICAL SHEAR AND
SUFFICIENT CAPE ARE PRESENT.  THEREFORE...HAVE UPGRADED THE ONGOING
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH TO A TORNADO WATCH FOR THIS REGION.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 1.5 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE
WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO
500. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 22035.


...HART

Tornado Watches in Oklahoma, 2012Tornado Watches in Arkansas, 2012Every tornado watch in 2012

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.