Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Watches in 2023

Tornado Watch 34

February 15, 20235 states

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Feb 15, 2023, 9:22 PM CST for 5 states. It was in force for 8 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Feb 15, 2023, 9:22 PM CST (03:22 UTC)
Expired
Feb 16, 2023, 5:00 AM CST
In force
8 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
1.5 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 123 counties

Arkansas County, AR, Ashley County, AR, Bradley County, AR, Calhoun County, AR, Chicot County, AR, Clay County, AR, Cleveland County, AR, Columbia County, AR, Craighead County, AR, Crittenden County, AR, Cross County, AR, Dallas County, AR, Desha County, AR, Drew County, AR, Grant County, AR, Greene County, AR, Independence County, AR, Jackson County, AR, Jefferson County, AR, Lawrence County, AR, Lee County, AR, Lincoln County, AR, Lonoke County, AR, Mississippi County, AR, Monroe County, AR, Ouachita County, AR, Phillips County, AR, Poinsett County, AR, Prairie County, AR, Pulaski County, AR, Randolph County, AR, Saline County, AR, Sharp County, AR, St. Francis County, AR, Union County, AR, White County, AR, Woodruff County, AR, Bienville Parish, LA, Bossier Parish, LA, Caddo Parish, LA, Caldwell Parish, LA, Catahoula Parish, LA, Claiborne Parish, LA, De Soto Parish, LA, East Carroll Parish, LA, Franklin Parish, LA, Grant Parish, LA, Jackson Parish, LA, LaSalle Parish, LA, Lincoln Parish, LA, Madison Parish, LA, Morehouse Parish, LA, Natchitoches Parish, LA, Ouachita Parish, LA, Red River Parish, LA, Richland Parish, LA, Sabine Parish, LA, Tensas Parish, LA, Union Parish, LA, Webster Parish, LA, West Carroll Parish, LA, Winn Parish, LA, Dunklin County, MO, Pemiscot County, MO, Alcorn County, MS, Benton County, MS, Bolivar County, MS, Carroll County, MS, Coahoma County, MS, DeSoto County, MS, Grenada County, MS, Holmes County, MS, Humphreys County, MS, Issaquena County, MS, Lafayette County, MS, Leflore County, MS, Marshall County, MS, Panola County, MS, Prentiss County, MS, Quitman County, MS, Sharkey County, MS, Sunflower County, MS, Tallahatchie County, MS, Tate County, MS, Tippah County, MS, Tishomingo County, MS, Tunica County, MS, Union County, MS, Warren County, MS, Washington County, MS, Yalobusha County, MS, Yazoo County, MS, Benton County, TN, Carroll County, TN, Chester County, TN, Crockett County, TN, Decatur County, TN, Dickson County, TN, Dyer County, TN, Fayette County, TN, Gibson County, TN, Hardeman County, TN, Hardin County, TN, Haywood County, TN, Henderson County, TN, Henry County, TN, Hickman County, TN, Houston County, TN, Humphreys County, TN, Lake County, TN, Lauderdale County, TN, Lawrence County, TN, Lewis County, TN, Madison County, TN, McNairy County, TN, Montgomery County, TN, Obion County, TN, Perry County, TN, Shelby County, TN, Stewart County, TN, Tipton County, TN, Wayne County, TN, Weakley County, TN

The radar

The Little Rock radar (KLZK), 156 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:26 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
50%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
30%
Ten or more severe wind reports
60%
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
80%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Feb 15, 9:22 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGCrittenden, Mississippi23 min
Feb 15, 9:40 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGFayette, Haywood, Shelby50 min
Feb 15, 10:23 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGFayette, Hardeman, Haywood, Madison12 min
Feb 16, 3:26 AM CSTTornado WarningLZKFulton, Izard, Sharp20 min
Feb 16, 3:27 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKFulton, Sharp36 min
Feb 16, 3:32 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKCleburne, Faulkner, White25 min
Feb 16, 3:48 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKFulton, Izard, Sharp42 min
Feb 16, 4:36 AM CSTTornado WarningMEGGibson, Henry, Weakley39 min
Feb 16, 4:39 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKLawrence, Randolph, Sharp14 min
Feb 16, 4:39 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGHenry, Weakley51 min
Feb 16, 4:39 AM CSTTornado WarningMEGHenry, Weakley51 min
Feb 16, 4:53 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningMEGGibson3 hr
Feb 16, 5:00 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningMEGWeakley3 hr

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 00:00Z, 3.4 hours before the alert went out and 221 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 2023-02-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 374 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 2023-02-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 186 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
374 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-84 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
892 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
64 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
186 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
306 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.4
Supercell composite
3.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Feb 15, 9:21 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBenton, Crawford, Franklin, Logan, Montgomery, Polk and 3 more54 min
Feb 15, 9:44 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBenton, Carroll, Crawford, Franklin, Johnson, Logan and 7 more7 hr
Feb 15, 10:50 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCArkansas, Ashley, Bradley, Chicot, Cleveland, Crittenden and 9 more115 min
Feb 15, 11:13 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBaxter, Boone, Cleburne, Conway, Faulkner, Fulton and 10 more6 hr
Feb 15, 11:38 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaxter, Boone, Conway, Crawford, Franklin, Fulton and 15 more67 min
Feb 16, 2:26 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaxter, Fulton, Izard, Pope, Searcy, Stone and 1 more94 min
Feb 16, 4:08 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCArkansas, Bradley, Calhoun, Clark, Clay, Cleveland and 28 more67 min
Feb 16, 4:51 AM CSTTornado WatchSPCArkansas, Bradley, Calhoun, Clark, Clay, Cleburne and 31 more7 hr
Feb 16, 7:30 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCrittenden, Cross, Mississippi, Poinsett, St. Francis90 min
Feb 16, 7:54 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAshley, Chicot2 hr
Feb 16, 9:23 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCrittenden, Desha, Drew, Lee, Phillips2 hr
Feb 16, 9:59 AM CSTTornado WatchSPCConcordia, East Carroll, Madison, Tensas9 hr
Feb 16, 11:33 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlcorn, Benton, Calhoun, Chickasaw, Itawamba, Lafayette and 10 more27 min
Feb 16, 11:37 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdams, Amite, Attala, Claiborne, Clarke, Copiah and 28 more83 min
Feb 16, 12:00 PM CSTTornado WatchSPCAlcorn, Benton, Calhoun, Chickasaw, Itawamba, Lafayette and 13 more7 hr
Feb 16, 1:50 PM CSTTornado WatchSPCGreene, Perry, Wayne6 hr
Feb 16, 2:02 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlcorn, Calhoun, Chickasaw, Itawamba, Lee, Monroe and 5 more118 min
Feb 16, 2:20 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCClarke, Covington, Forrest, Greene, Jasper, Jefferson Davis and 10 more55 min
Feb 16, 3:42 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCChickasaw, Itawamba, Lee, Monroe, Prentiss, Tishomingo2 hr
Feb 16, 5:56 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCClarke, Covington, Forrest, George, Greene, Harrison and 11 more2 hr
Feb 16, 2:00 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAtchison, Nodaway6 hr
Feb 16, 5:57 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBedford, Bledsoe, Cannon, Coffee, Cumberland, DeKalb and 15 more93 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Arkansas, 2023Tornado Watches in Tennessee, 2023Tornado Watches in Mississippi, 2023Every tornado watch in 2023

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.