Alert archive / Tennessee / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 3, NWS Memphis, TN

March 18, 1987Tipton County, Tennessee

NWS Memphis, TN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 18, 1987, 4:43 PM CST for Tipton County, Tennessee. It was in force for 62 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Mar 18, 1987, 4:43 PM CST (22:43 UTC)
Expired
Mar 18, 1987, 5:45 PM CST
In force
62 min
Issued by
NWS Memphis, TN
Area
Whole counties

County Tipton 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, 10.7 hours before the alert went out and 76 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 1987-03-18Temperature 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 1987-03-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 133 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
3537 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
50 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
133 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
228 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, Mar 18, 3:51 PM CST, 52 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE  MEMPHIS TN
400 PM CST WED MAR 18 1987

 ...THUNDERSTORMS APPROACH THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER...

A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPED AROUND 3 PM CST ACROSS
EASTERN ARKANSAS.  THIS LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS STRETCHED FROM THE
MISSOURI BOOTHEEL TO NEAR WEST MEMPHIS TO NEAR HELENA ARKANSAS JUST
BEFORE 4 PM CST.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS LIKELY CONTAIN PEA TO MARBLE SIZE HAIL.

IN ADDITION...WIND5S WILL BE GUSTY AND RAIN HEAVY FOR A BRIEF PERIOD
OF TIME AS THESE STORMS PASS TO THE EAST.

THIS LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS IS MOVING TOWARD THE EAST AND WILL MOVE INTO
NORTHWEST MISSISSIPPI AND WEST TENNESSEE BEFORE 5 PM CST.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 18, 5:30 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGUnion60 min
Mar 18, 5:40 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGPontotoc60 min
Mar 18, 4:43 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGGibson62 min

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.