Alert archive / Tennessee / Flash Flood Warnings in 1986

Flash Flood Warning 3, NWS Memphis, TN

June 9, 1986Madison County, Tennessee

NWS Memphis, TN issued this flash flood warning at Jun 9, 1986, 6:35 PM CDT for Madison County, Tennessee. It was in force for 3 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jun 9, 1986, 6:35 PM CDT (23:35 UTC)
Expired
Jun 9, 1986, 10:00 PM CDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Memphis, TN
Area
Whole counties

County Madison County, TN

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

The nearest sounding before it

Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 12:00Z, 11.6 hours before the alert went out and 133 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 12:00Z on 1986-06-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 12:00Z on 1986-06-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 42 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
3618 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
42 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
47 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMEM 092343
FFWMEM
TNC113-100300-

BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
635 PM CDT MON JUN 9 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS RE-ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1000 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES:

IN WEST TENNESSEE
          ..MADISON

HEAVY THUNDERSHOWERS THAT OCCURRED IN MADISON COUNTY DURING THE
AFTERNOON ARE NOW AFFECTING THE TRIBUTARIES THAT FEED INTO THE
FORKED DEER.  PART OF BEMIS TENNESSEE IS BEING EVACUATED AND OTHER
SUBURBS OF JACKSON MAY BE AFFECTED BY THE SMALL CREEKS IN THE AREA.
FLOODING WILL CONTINUE UNTIL AFTER DARK BUT THE SMALL TRIBUTARIES
SHOULD BE BACK WITHIN BANKS BY MIDNIGHT.

A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS IMMINENT OR ALREADY
OCCURRING.  MOST FLASH FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES.  DO NOT
ATTEMPT TO CROSS BRIDGES, DIPS, OR LOW SPOTS IF WATER COVERS THE
ROADWAY.  NEVER TRY TO CROSS A FLOWING STREAM, EVEN A SMALL ONE,
ON FOOT.  TO ESCAPE RISING WATER MOVE UP TO HIGHER GROUND.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this flash flood warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jun 9, 4:13 PM CDT, 2 hours 22 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
410 PM CDT MON JUN 9 1986

...FUNNEL CLOUD OBSERVED MOVING ACROSS THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER INTO
NORTHWEST TENNESSEE NORTHWEST OF DYERSBURG...

AT 405 PM THE MISSOURI HIGHWAY PATROL REPORTED THAT A FUNNEL CLOUD WAS
MOVING NORTHEASTWARD INTO NORTHWESTERN TENNESSEE NORTHWEST OF DYERSBURG
IN THE LAKE..DYER..OBION COUNTY AREA.

ALL PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR APPROACHING
THUNDERSTORMS AND TAKE COVER IF THREATENING WEATHER NEARS.

STAY TUNED TO THIS STATION FOR THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION.
Special weather statement, Jun 9, 4:44 PM CDT, 1 hour 51 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
430 PM CDT MON JUN 9 1986

...FUNNEL CLOUD OBSERVED MOVING ACROSS THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER INTO
NORTHWEST TENNESSEE NORTHWEST OF DYERSBURG...

AT 405 PM THE MISSOURI HIGHWAY PATROL REPORTED THAT A FUNNEL CLOUD WAS
MOVING NORTHEASTWARD INTO NORTHWESTERN TENNESSEE NORTHWEST OF DYERSBURG
INTO THE LAKE..DYER..OBION COUNTY AREAS.

ALL PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR APPROACHING
THUNDERSTORMS AND TAKE COVER IF THREATENING WEATHER NEARS.

ELSEWHERE..THUNDERSHOWERS AND PATCHES OF RAIN WERE SCATTERED THROUGH
MUCH OF ARKANSAS..WEST TENNESSEE AND NORTH MISSISSIPPI.

THE THUNDERSHOWERS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 15 MPH.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Memphis, TN issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 9, 3:14 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningMEGMadison4 hr
Jun 9, 4:42 PM CDTTornado WarningMEGLake63 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Tennessee, 1986Every flash flood warning in 1986

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.