Alert archive / Tennessee / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 59, NWS Atlanta, GA

December 15, 1987Hamilton County, Tennessee

NWS Atlanta, GA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Dec 15, 1987, 6:15 AM EST for Hamilton County, Tennessee. It was in force for 60 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Dec 15, 1987, 6:15 AM EST (11:15 UTC)
Expired
Dec 15, 1987, 7:15 AM EST
In force
60 min
Issued by
NWS Atlanta, GA
Area
Whole counties

County Hamilton 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

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 00:00Z, 11.3 hours before the alert went out and 167 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 00:00Z on 1987-12-15Temperature 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 00:00Z on 1987-12-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 552 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
NaN m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
59 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
552 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
554 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm 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, Dec 15, 3:59 AM EST, 2 hours 16 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ATLANTA GA
400 AM EST TUE DEC 15 1987

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS HEADED FOR GEORGIA...

A FAST MOVING COLD FRONT IN ALABAMA WAS PRODUCING STRONG THUNDER-
STORMS WITH GUSTY WINDS AND HAIL AS IT MOVED EASTWARD AT 35 MPH.
MARBLE SIZE HAIL...TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN...AND SCATTERED
POWER OUTAGES HAVE BEEN REPORTED IN NORTH ALABAMA DURING THE NIGHT.
THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE APPROACHING THE GEORGIA/ALABAMA STATE
LINE AROUND DAYBREAK AND MOVE THROUGH WESTERN SECTIONS THIS MORNING
AND THROUGH THE EAST EARLY THIS AFTERNOON. TEMPERATURES ACROSS
SOUTH GEORGIA WERE IN THE 60S AND IN NORTH GEORGIA IN THE 50S.
THESE UNUSUALLY WARM TEMPERATURES COMBINED WITH THE RAPID MOVEMENT
OF THE INDIVIDUAL THUNDERSTORMS AT NEARLY 50 MPH WILL POSE A THREAT
OF SEVERE WEATHER TO MOST OF THE STATE TODAY.

PEOPLE ARE URGED TO BE ALERT TO RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS
TODAY AND SHOULD STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATKHER RADIO OR LOCAL RADIO
OR TELEVISION STATIONS FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION ON THESE STORMS.
Special weather statement, Dec 15, 5:11 AM EST, 1 hour 4 minutes before
SEVERE WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ATHENS GA
510AM EST TUE DEC 15 1987

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 567 IN EFFECT FOR PORTIONS OF EAST
ALABAMA AND PORTIONS OF WESTERN AND NORTHERN GEORGIA.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED UNTIL 1000 AM EST FOR
THE FOLLOWING NORTHEAST GEORGIA COUNTIES...BARROW...HALL...NEWTON...
...JACKSON AND WALTON.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. PERSONS IN THESE AREAS
SHOULD REMAIN ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING WEATHER AND LISTEN FOR
LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.
Special weather statement, Dec 15, 5:30 AM EST, 45 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ATHENS GA
510AM EST TUE DEC 15 1987

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 567 IN EFFECT FOR PORTIONS OF EAST
ALABAMA AND PORTIONS OF WESTERN AND NORTHERN GEORGIA.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED UNTIL 1000 AM EST FOR
THE FOLLOWING NORTHEAST GEORGIA COUNTIES...BARROW...HALL...NEWTON...
...JACKSON AND WALTON.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. PERSONS IN THESE AREAS
SHOULD REMAIN ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING WEATHER AND LISTEN FOR
LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.
Special weather statement, Dec 15, 5:35 AM EST, 40 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ATLANTA GA
535 AM EST TUE DEC 15 1987

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ARE HEADED FOR GEORGIA...

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR A LARGE PORTION OF
NORTH AND WEST GEORGIA UNTIL 10 AM. STRONG THUNDERSTORMS AHEAD
OF A FAST MOVING COLD FRONT WERE MOVING INTO WEST GEORGIA FROM
ALABAMA IN THE PREDAWN HOURS. SOME OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS MAY HAVE
DAMAGING WINDS AND HAIL AS THEY MOVE THROUGH GEORGIA THIS MORNING.
NUMEROUS REPORTS OF TREES AND POWER LINES BEING DOWNED BY STRONG
WINDS WERE RECEIVED ACROSS NORTH ALABAMA DURING THE NIGHT WITH
THE STORMS. A FEW REPORTS OF HAIL WERE ALSO RECEIVED.

THIS AREA OF THUNDERSTORMS WAS MOVING TO THE EAST AT 35 MPH WHILE
THE INDIVIDUAL STORMS WERE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT NEARLY
50 MPH. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR LOCAL RADIO OR
TELEVISION STATION FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ON THIS DEVELOPING
WEATHER SITUATION.
Special weather statement, Dec 15, 5:36 AM EST, 39 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT..CORRECTED..
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MACON GA
5:35AM EST TUE DEC 15 1987

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 567 IN EFFECT 5:00 UNTIL 10:00 AM EST...

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED VALID UNTIL 10:00 AM EST FOR
THE FOLLOWING CENTRAL GEORGIA COUNTIES: TAYLOR...UPSON...BIBB...MONROE
...CRAWFORD...PEACH...DOOLY...AND JONES.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. PERSONS IN THESE AREAS
SHOULD REMAIN ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING WEATHER AND LISTEN FOR
LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

AT 5:OO AM EST THE THUNDERSTORM AREA WAS APPROACHING WESTERN GEORGIA
NEAR COLUMBUS.
!

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Tennessee, 1987Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1987

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.