Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Watches in 2020
Tornado Watch 68
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Mar 28, 2020, 2:10 PM CDT for 48 counties in Arkansas. It was in force for 5 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Mar 28, 2020, 2:10 PM CDT (19:10 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 28, 2020, 7:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 5 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 1.5 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
All 48 counties
Arkansas County, AR, Baxter County, AR, Bradley County, AR, Calhoun County, AR, Clark County, AR, Clay County, AR, Cleburne County, AR, Cleveland County, AR, Conway County, AR, Craighead County, AR, Crittenden County, AR, Cross County, AR, Dallas County, AR, Desha County, AR, Drew County, AR, Faulkner County, AR, Fulton County, AR, Garland County, AR, Grant County, AR, Greene County, AR, Hot Spring County, AR, Independence County, AR, Izard County, AR, Jackson County, AR, Jefferson County, AR, Lawrence County, AR, Lee County, AR, Lincoln County, AR, Lonoke County, AR, Marion County, AR, Mississippi County, AR, Monroe County, AR, Ouachita County, AR, Perry County, AR, Phillips County, AR, Poinsett County, AR, Pope County, AR, Prairie County, AR, Pulaski County, AR, Randolph County, AR, Saline 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), 76 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:10 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
- 50%
- One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
- 20%
- Ten or more severe hail reports
- 50%
- One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
- 20%
- Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
- 80%
Warnings issued inside it
20 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 28, 3:11 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Cleburne, Independence, White | 49 min |
| Mar 28, 3:55 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Independence, Jackson, Lawrence, Sharp | 50 min |
| Mar 28, 3:59 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | LZK | Jackson, Woodruff | 46 min |
| Mar 28, 4:19 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MEG | Craighead, Poinsett | 26 min |
| Mar 28, 4:41 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Craighead, Poinsett | 34 min |
| Mar 28, 4:47 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MEG | Craighead, Poinsett | 28 min |
| Mar 28, 4:52 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Clay | 25 min |
| Mar 28, 5:09 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MEG | Craighead, Greene | 36 min |
| Mar 28, 5:15 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Lonoke, Prairie | 45 min |
| Mar 28, 5:16 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Clay, Greene | 34 min |
| Mar 28, 5:27 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MEG | Clay, Greene | 48 min |
| Mar 28, 5:51 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MEG | Clay, Greene | 28 min |
| Mar 28, 5:56 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Monroe, Prairie, Woodruff | 21 min |
| Mar 28, 5:59 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Desha, Drew, Lincoln | 46 min |
| Mar 28, 6:07 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Arkansas, Monroe | 38 min |
| Mar 28, 6:13 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Mississippi | 47 min |
| Mar 28, 6:26 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Phillips | 49 min |
| Mar 28, 6:29 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Crittenden, Cross, Mississippi, Poinsett | 46 min |
| Mar 28, 6:56 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MEG | Mississippi | 34 min |
| Mar 28, 6:57 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Lee, Phillips | 48 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
Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 12:00Z, 7.2 hours before the alert went out and 149 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
- 172 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -331 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 810 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 74 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 177 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 162 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted.
342 WWUS20 KWNS 281907 SEL8 SPC WW 281907 ARZ000-MOZ000-290000- URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED Tornado Watch Number 68 NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK 210 PM CDT Sat Mar 28 2020 The NWS Storm Prediction Center has issued a * Tornado Watch for portions of central and eastern Arkansas the Bootheel of Missouri * Effective this Saturday afternoon and evening from 210 PM until 700 PM CDT. * Primary threats include... A couple tornadoes possible Scattered damaging wind gusts to 70 mph possible Scattered large hail events to 1.5 inches in diameter possible SUMMARY...Thunderstorms are forecast to increase gradually in coverage and intensity over the next few hours across Arkansas, as a cold front crosses the region. Risk for damaging winds and hail can be expected, along with a couple of tornadoes. The tornado watch area is approximately along and 65 statute miles east and west of a line from 25 miles northwest of Walnut Ridge AR to 50 miles west southwest of Monticello AR. For a complete depiction of the watch see the associated watch outline update (WOUS64 KWNS WOU8). 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 67... 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 24035. ...Goss
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 28, 12:14 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Arkansas, Bradley, Calhoun, Clark, Cleburne, Cleveland and 42 more | 2 hr |
| Mar 28, 1:17 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Clay, Randolph | 88 min |
| Mar 28, 2:56 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Arkansas, Bradley, Calhoun, Clay, Cleburne, Cleveland and 34 more | 94 min |
| Mar 28, 4:59 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Crittenden, Lee, Mississippi, Phillips, St. Francis | 61 min |
| Mar 28, 6:34 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Ashley, Chicot, Crittenden, Cross, Lee, Mississippi and 2 more | 7 hr |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Arkansas, 2020Every tornado watch in 2020
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.