Alert archive / Tennessee / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 52, NWS Atlanta, GA

May 14, 1988McMinn County, Tennessee

NWS Atlanta, GA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 14, 1988, 3:47 PM EDT for McMinn County, Tennessee. It was in force for 43 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: May 14, 1988, 3:47 PM EDT (19:47 UTC)
Expired: May 14, 1988, 4:30 PM EDT
In force: 43 min
Issued by: NWS Atlanta, GA
Area: Whole counties

County McMinn 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

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 14, 3:59 PM EDT	Hail 0.75	Mcminn, 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 12:00Z, 7.8 hours before the alert went out and 195 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 32 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -209 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1508 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 46 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 64 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 KCHA 141950
SVRCHA
TNC065-115-107-121-142030-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHATTANOOGA TN
347 PM EDT (247 PM CDT) SAT MAY 14 1988
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHATTANOOGA HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  430 PM EDT (330 PM CDT)
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
 
IN SOUTHEAST TENNESSEE
          ...HAMILTON...EASTERN MARION...NORTHERN MCMINN
          ...NORTHERN MEIGS
 
AT 340PM EDT WEATHER RADAR INDICATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CENTERED
25 MILES WEST OF CHATTANOOGA OVER MARION COUNTY AND ONE LOCATED
OVER NOTHERN MEIGS AND MCMINN COUNTIES ALL IN SOUTHEAST TENNESSEE.
 
THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE MOVING TOWARD THE SOUTHEAST AT 10 MPH
AND WILL LIKELY PRODUCE LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS AND FREQUENT
DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.
 
WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A
STRONG BUILDING.  DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS.  DON'T USE TELEPHONES
OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL THE STORM
HAS PASSED.  MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE INTO LOW WATER CROSSINGS.
 
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
DEADLY LIGHTNING.  PEOPLE OUTSIDE SHOULD MOVE TO A SHELTER...
PREFERABLY INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING BUT STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Atlanta, GA issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 14, 3:47 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Hamilton, Marion, Meigs	43 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Tennessee, 1988 Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1988

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.