Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Watches in 2015

Tornado Watch 218

May 25, 20158 counties in Arkansas; 8 counties in Missouri

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 25, 2015, 10:03 PM CDT for 8 counties in Arkansas; 8 counties in Missouri. It was in force for 4 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 25, 2015, 10:03 PM CDT (03:03 UTC)
Expired
May 26, 2015, 1:33 AM CDT
In force
4 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
0.5 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt

Counties Clay County, AR, Craighead County, AR, Cross County, AR, Greene County, AR, Lawrence County, AR, Poinsett County, AR, Randolph County, AR, St. Francis County, AR, Butler County, MO, Carter County, MO, Dunklin County, MO, Iron County, MO, Madison County, MO, Reynolds County, MO, Ripley County, MO, Wayne County, MO

The radar

The Memphis radar (KNQA), 180 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:05 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
5%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
5%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
50%

Discussions around it

SPC mesoscale discussions over the same counties from four hours before the watch to its end.

The nearest sounding before it

Little Rock, AR (KBYH), launched 00:00Z, 3.1 hours before the alert went out and 226 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, Little Rock, AR at 00:00Z on 2015-05-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1539 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, Little Rock, AR at 00:00Z on 2015-05-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 80 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
1539 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-7 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1020 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
49 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
80 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
219 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.8
Supercell composite
7.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 25, 8:52 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCArkansas, Baxter, Boone, Carroll, Clay, Cleburne and 35 more83 min
May 25, 11:48 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCClay, Craighead, Greene, Lawrence, Poinsett, Randolph87 min
May 25, 7:47 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCBarry, Barton, Cedar, Christian, Dade, Dallas and 20 more5 hr
May 25, 8:18 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAndrew, Atchison, Buchanan, Daviess, DeKalb, Gentry and 5 more87 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Arkansas, 2015Tornado Watches in Missouri, 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.