Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Watches in 2015

Tornado Watch 162

May 10, 201539 counties in Arkansas; 9 parishes in Louisiana; 13 counties in Texas

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 10, 2015, 11:31 PM CDT for 39 counties in Arkansas; 9 parishes in Louisiana; 13 counties in Texas. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 10, 2015, 11:31 PM CDT (04:31 UTC)
Expired
May 11, 2015, 5:00 AM CDT
In force
5 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
1.5 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 61 counties

Arkansas County, AR, Bradley County, AR, Calhoun County, AR, Clark County, AR, Cleburne County, AR, Cleveland County, AR, Columbia County, AR, Conway County, AR, Dallas County, AR, Desha County, AR, Drew County, AR, Faulkner County, AR, Garland 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, Lonoke County, AR, Miller County, AR, Monroe County, AR, Montgomery County, AR, Nevada County, AR, Ouachita County, AR, Perry County, AR, Pike County, AR, Pope County, AR, Prairie County, AR, Pulaski County, AR, Saline County, AR, Sevier County, AR, Union County, AR, Van Buren County, AR, White County, AR, Woodruff County, AR, Yell County, AR, Bienville Parish, LA, Bossier Parish, LA, Caddo Parish, LA, Claiborne Parish, LA, De Soto Parish, LA, Lincoln Parish, LA, Red River Parish, LA, Union Parish, LA, Webster Parish, LA, Bowie County, TX, Camp County, TX, Cass County, TX, Cherokee County, TX, Gregg County, TX, Harrison County, TX, Marion County, TX, Morris County, TX, Panola County, TX, Rusk County, TX, Smith County, TX, Titus County, TX, Upshur County, TX

The radar

The Shreveport radar (KSHV), 114 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:30 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
10%
Ten or more severe hail reports
30%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
10%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
60%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 10, 11:38 PM CDTTornado WarningSHVBowie, Red River, Titus37 min
May 10, 11:39 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningSHVSmith, Upshur, Wood4 hr
May 10, 11:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVHempstead, Howard, Little River, Miller, Sevier44 min
May 10, 11:58 PM CDTTornado WarningSHVMiller36 min
May 10, 11:59 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningLZKJohnson, Logan, Montgomery, Newton, Polk, Pope and 3 more3 hr
May 11, 12:07 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVBowie, Camp, Cass, Marion, Morris, Titus and 1 more53 min
May 11, 12:25 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVGregg, Rusk, Smith, Upshur, Wood65 min
May 11, 12:36 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningSHVHempstead, Howard, Little River, Miller, Sevier4 hr
May 11, 12:41 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVCherokee64 min
May 11, 12:46 AM CDTTornado WarningSHVLittle River15 min
May 11, 12:53 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVHempstead, Lafayette, Little River, Miller52 min
May 11, 12:59 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVCass, Gregg, Harrison, Marion, Morris, Panola and 2 more46 min
May 11, 1:03 AM CDTTornado WarningSHVBowie27 min
May 11, 1:19 AM CDTTornado WarningSHVHempstead, Howard, Little River, Sevier26 min
May 11, 1:19 AM CDTTornado WarningSHVCherokee, Rusk, Smith41 min
May 11, 1:42 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVHempstead, Howard, Lafayette, Little River, Miller, Sevier48 min
May 11, 1:47 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVLafayette, Miller43 min
May 11, 1:51 AM CDTFlash Flood Warning EmergencySHVGregg, Harrison, Marion, Upshur4 hr
May 11, 1:59 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVGregg, Harrison, Panola, Rusk61 min
May 11, 2:05 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVCherokee, Smith40 min
May 11, 2:19 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningLZKClark, Montgomery, Pike3 hr
May 11, 2:44 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVHarrison, Marion61 min
May 11, 2:58 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVCherokee, Gregg, Harrison, Panola, Rusk47 min
May 11, 3:05 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVCherokee, Nacogdoches, Rusk55 min
May 11, 3:06 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningLZKClark, Faulkner, Garland, Grant, Hot Spring, Perry and 2 more3 hr
May 11, 3:14 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningSHVCherokee, Rusk4 hr
May 11, 3:31 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVCaddo, De Soto59 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

Shreveport, LA (KBAD), launched 00:00Z, 4.5 hours before the alert went out and 109 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, Shreveport, LA at 00:00Z on 2015-05-11Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 482 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, Shreveport, LA at 00:00Z on 2015-05-11The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 79 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
482 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-35 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1448 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
44 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
79 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
72 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
5.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

498 
WWUS20 KWNS 110428
SEL2  
SPC WW 110428
ARZ000-LAZ000-TXZ000-111000-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 162
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1130 PM CDT SUN MAY 10 2015

THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF 
  SOUTHWEST INTO CENTRAL ARKANSAS
  NORTHWEST LOUISIANA
  NORTHEAST TEXAS

* EFFECTIVE THIS SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY MORNING FROM 1130 PM
  UNTIL 500 AM CDT.

* PRIMARY THREATS INCLUDE...
  A COUPLE TORNADOES POSSIBLE
  ISOLATED DAMAGING WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH POSSIBLE
  ISOLATED LARGE HAIL EVENTS TO 1.5 INCHES IN DIAMETER POSSIBLE

SUMMARY...NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS ONGOING OVER THE ARKLATEX ARE
EXPECTED TO ADVANCE EAST AND NORTHEAST ACROSS THE WATCH AREA
OVERNIGHT.  EMBEDDED SUPERCELL STRUCTURES HAVE BEEN OBSERVED AND
WILL REMAIN POSSIBLE TONIGHT WITH A RISK FOR A COUPLE OF
TORNADOES...DAMAGING OUTFLOW WINDS AND SEVERE HAIL.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 65 STATUTE
MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 30 MILES SOUTHEAST OF LONGVIEW
TEXAS TO 60 MILES NORTH NORTHEAST OF LITTLE ROCK ARKANSAS.  FOR A
COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE
UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU2).

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

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 161...

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 22030.


...MEAD

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 10, 7:08 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCClark, Columbia, Dallas, Faulkner, Garland, Grant and 18 more97 min
May 10, 7:34 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCClark, Dallas, Garland, Grant, Hempstead, Hot Spring and 13 more4 hr
May 10, 8:06 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCSebastian54 min
May 10, 9:57 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCClark, Columbia, Garland, Hempstead, Hot Spring, Howard and 12 more93 min
May 11, 2:55 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCSabine95 min
May 11, 12:30 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAscension, Assumption, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Iberia, Iberville and 18 more2 hr
May 11, 1:44 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAscension, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Iberville, Livingston, Saint Helena and 3 more2 hr
May 11, 2:31 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCEdwards, Kerr, Kimble, Real, Sutton, Val Verde89 min
May 11, 4:19 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBandera, Bastrop, Bexar, Blanco, Burnet, Caldwell and 18 more7 hr
May 11, 7:04 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAustin, Bandera, Bastrop, Bexar, Blanco, Burleson and 34 more56 min
May 11, 2:16 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAtascosa, Bee, Bexar, Colorado, DeWitt, Dimmit and 18 more119 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Arkansas, 2015Tornado Watches in Texas, 2015Tornado Watches in Louisiana, 2015Every tornado watch in 2015

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.