Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Watches in 2023

Tornado Watch 37

February 16, 20235 states

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Feb 16, 2023, 4:51 AM CST for 5 states. It was in force for 7 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Feb 16, 2023, 4:51 AM CST (10:51 UTC)
Expired
Feb 16, 2023, 12:00 PM CST
In force
7 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
2 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 91 counties

Arkansas County, AR, Bradley County, AR, Calhoun County, AR, Clark County, AR, Clay County, AR, Cleburne County, AR, Cleveland County, AR, Craighead County, AR, Crittenden County, AR, Cross County, AR, Dallas County, AR, Desha County, AR, Drew County, AR, Faulkner County, AR, Grant County, AR, Greene County, AR, Hot Spring 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, White County, AR, Woodruff County, AR, Ballard County, KY, Caldwell County, KY, Calloway County, KY, Carlisle County, KY, Christian County, KY, Crittenden County, KY, Fulton County, KY, Graves County, KY, Hickman County, KY, Hopkins County, KY, Livingston County, KY, Lyon County, KY, Marshall County, KY, McCracken County, KY, Muhlenberg County, KY, Todd County, KY, Trigg County, KY, Butler County, MO, Dunklin County, MO, Mississippi County, MO, New Madrid County, MO, Pemiscot County, MO, Scott County, MO, Stoddard County, MO, Benton County, MS, Coahoma County, MS, DeSoto County, MS, Marshall County, MS, Panola County, MS, Quitman County, MS, Tate County, MS, Tunica County, MS, Benton County, TN, Carroll County, TN, Chester County, TN, Crockett County, TN, Dyer County, TN, Fayette County, TN, Gibson County, TN, Hardeman County, TN, Haywood County, TN, Henderson County, TN, Henry County, TN, Houston County, TN, Humphreys County, TN, Lake County, TN, Lauderdale County, TN, Madison County, TN, Montgomery County, TN, Obion County, TN, Shelby County, TN, Stewart County, TN, Tipton County, TN, Weakley County, TN

The radar

The Little Rock radar (KLZK), 93 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 10:54 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
20%
Ten or more severe wind reports
50%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
20%
Ten or more severe hail reports
30%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
30%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
70%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Feb 16, 4:53 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningMEGGibson3 hr
Feb 16, 5:00 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningMEGWeakley3 hr
Feb 16, 5:22 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKWhite38 min
Feb 16, 5:24 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningMEGCrockett, Dyer, Haywood, Lauderdale2 hr
Feb 16, 5:25 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningMEGHenry, Weakley3 hr
Feb 16, 5:41 AM CSTTornado WarningMEGCarroll, Gibson, Henderson, Madison49 min
Feb 16, 6:24 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPAHLivingston, Lyon, Marshall30 min
Feb 16, 7:18 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningPAHDaviess, Hopkins, McLean, Muhlenberg, Webster4 hr
Feb 16, 7:25 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningMEGCarroll, Crockett, Dyer, Gibson, Haywood, Lauderdale5 hr
Feb 16, 7:49 AM CSTFlash Flood Warning Considerable damage threatMEGCarroll, Henry, Weakley5 hr
Feb 16, 9:11 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningPAHCaldwell, Crittenden, Hopkins, Livingston, Lyon, Marshall and 1 more2 hr
Feb 16, 11:54 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningOHXHouston, Montgomery, Stewart4 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, 10.9 hours before the alert went out and 118 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, 9:22 PM CSTTornado WatchSPCArkansas, Ashley, Bradley, Calhoun, Chicot, Clay and 31 more8 hr
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, 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, 11:33 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAllen, Barren, Clinton, Cumberland, Metcalfe, Monroe and 2 more27 min
Feb 16, 12:00 PM CSTTornado WatchSPCAllen, Barren, Clinton, Cumberland, Logan, Metcalfe and 3 more7 hr
Feb 16, 2:02 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAllen, Barren, Cumberland, Metcalfe, Monroe, Simpson118 min
Feb 16, 3:42 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCClinton, Cumberland, Monroe2 hr
Feb 16, 9:59 AM CSTTornado WatchSPCAdams, Amite, Attala, Bolivar, Carroll, Choctaw and 45 more9 hr
Feb 16, 11:37 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdams, Amite, Attala, Claiborne, Clarke, Copiah and 28 more83 min
Feb 16, 1:50 PM CSTTornado WatchSPCGreene, Perry, Wayne6 hr
Feb 16, 2:20 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCClarke, Covington, Forrest, Greene, Jasper, Jefferson Davis and 10 more55 min
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 Kentucky, 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.