Tornado Watch 93

Issued

Mar 20, 2012, 2:55 PM CDT (19:55 UTC)

Expired

Mar 20, 2012, 9:45 PM CDT

In force

7 hr

Issued by

the Storm Prediction Center

Largest hail expected

1 in

Strongest gust expected

60 kt

The Little Rock radar (KLZK), 29 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:57 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

20%

One or more gusts of 65 knots or more

20%

Ten or more severe hail reports

10%

One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more

10%

Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports

60%

• Mesoscale Discussion 305Mar 20, 1:48 PM CDT
• Mesoscale Discussion 309Mar 20, 5:57 PM CDT
• Mesoscale Discussion 311Mar 20, 9:27 PM CDT

419 
WWUS20 KWNS 201957
SEL3
SPC WW 201957
ARZ000-210300-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 93
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
255 PM CDT TUE MAR 20 2012

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

       CENTRAL AND EASTERN ARKANSAS

EFFECTIVE THIS TUESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 255 PM UNTIL
1000 PM CDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 1 INCH IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 55 STATUTE
MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 75 MILES NORTH NORTHEAST OF
LITTLE ROCK ARKANSAS TO 45 MILES SOUTH SOUTHWEST OF MONTICELLO
ARKANSAS.  FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE
ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU3).

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 92...

DISCUSSION...COMPOSITE OUTFLOW BOUNDARY CURRENTLY ROUGHLY BISECTING
AR WILL SERVE AS A FOCUS FOR INCREASING TSTM DEVELOPMENT THROUGH
LATE AFTERNOON/EARLY EVENING AS IT SLOWLY PROGRESSES EASTWARD...WITH
OTHER TSTMS POSSIBLE IN THE ADJACENT WARM SECTOR. A RELATIVELY
WARM/MOIST BOUNDARY LAYER IN CONJUNCTION WITH STRONG/DEEP SOUTHERLY
FLOW MAY YIELD STRONGER/SEVERE UPDRAFTS WITH THE QLCS...INCLUDING
EMBEDDED BOWING STRUCTURES AND A FEW SUPERCELLS. ISOLATED DAMAGING
WINDS AND A COUPLE OF TORNADOES MAY BE POSSIBLE IN ADDITION TO HEAVY
RAINFALL.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 1 INCH. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 21045.


...GUYER/THOMPSON

Tornado 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.