Alert archive / Tennessee / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 2, NWS Morristown, TN

June 3, 1987Cumberland County, Tennessee

NWS Morristown, TN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 3, 1987, 8:19 PM CDT for Cumberland County, Tennessee. It was in force for 56 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
Jun 3, 1987, 8:19 PM CDT (01:19 UTC)
Expired
Jun 3, 1987, 9:15 PM CDT
In force
56 min
Issued by
NWS Morristown, TN
Area
Whole counties

County Cumberland County, TN

The radar

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

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jun 3, 8:30 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 0Cumberland, TN

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in. Storm Data before 1996 records only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail.

The nearest sounding before it

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 00:00Z, 1.3 hours before the alert went out and 145 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 1987-06-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 207 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 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 1987-06-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -96 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 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
207 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-26 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1021 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-96 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
45 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
-0.1
Supercell composite
-0.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KTYS 040119
SVRTYS
TNC035-040215-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KNOXVILLE TN
919 PM EDT WED JUN 3 1987
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1015 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN EAST CENTRAL TENNESSEE
          ...CUMBERLAND
 
AT 900PM CHATANOOGA RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE AND VERY LARGE
THUNDERSTORM OVER AND JUST EAST OF CROSSVILLE TN MOVING TO THE EAST
AT 25 MPH.{Basis}
 
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
FOR YOUR P
 
ROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS.  HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO
DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM.  IF YOU ARE IN ITS PATH YOU SHOULD
PREPARE FOR DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH...LARGE HAIL...AND
DEADLrY LIGHTNING.  PEOPLE OUTSIDE SHOULD MOVE TO A SHELTER...
PREFERABLY INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING BUT STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

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, Jun 3, 2:42 PM CDT, 5 hours 37 minutes before
TRI CITY TENNESSEE SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BRISTOL TN
330 PM EDT WED JUN 3 1987

...VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO WESTERN MOST VIRGINIA..

AT 3:30 VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS WERE NEAR THE KENTUCKY/VIRGINIA
BORDER MOVING EAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR. THE MOST INTENSE WAS MOVING
INTO WESTERN BUCHANNAN COUNTY OF SOUTHWESTERN VIRGINIA.

THESE ARE PART OF AN AREA OF THUNDERSTORMS..SEVERAL WITH VERY HEAVY
RAIcNS..IN SOUTHEAST KENTUCKY..SOUTHWESTERN VIRGINIA..AND SOUTH
PARTS OF WEST VIRGINIA.

THUNDERSTORMS WERE WIDELY SCATTERED IN EAST TENNESSEE AND WEST PARTS OF
NORTH CAROLINA.

THE STORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR.
Special weather statement, Jun 3, 3:47 PM CDT, 4 hours 32 minutes before
TRI CITY TENNESSEE SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BRISTOL TN
430 PM EDT WED JUN 3 1987

...TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 186 IS IN EFFECT FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST
VIRGINIA...

AT 430PM VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED JUST WEST OF ABINGDON
VIRGINIA..WEST OF HICKORY NORTH CAROLINA..AND IN KENTUCKY SOUTH OF
BEATTYVILLE.

THESE ARE PART OF AN AREA OF SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS..SEVERAL WITH
VERY HEAVY RAINS..IN SOUTHEAST KENTUCKY..SOUTHWESTERN VIRGINIA..
SOUTHERN WEST VIRGINIA..AND WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA.

A FEW THUNDERSTORMS WERE IN EAST TENNESSEE.

THE STORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR.
Special weather statement, Jun 3, 4:40 PM CDT, 3 hours 39 minutes before
TRI CITY TENNESSEE SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BRISTOL TN
528 PM EDT WED JUN 3 1987

...TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 186 IS IN EFFECT FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST
VIRGINIA...

AT 528PM VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED 25 MILES SOUTH OF
JACKSON KENTUCKY AND IN NORTH CAROLINA SOUTHWEST OF GREENSBORO NEAR
CLEVELAND.

THESE ARE PART OF AN AREA OF SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS..SEVERAL WITH
VERY HEAVY RAINS..IN SOUTHEAST KENTUCKY..SOUTHWESTERN VIRGINIA..
SOUTHERN WEST VIRGINIA..WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA..AND NORTHERN SOUTH
CAROLINA.

THE STORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR.

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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.