Alert archive / Tennessee / Tornado Warnings in 1988

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Nashville, TN

November 4, 1988Wayne County, Tennessee

NWS Nashville, TN issued this tornado warning at Nov 4, 1988, 4:24 PM CST for Wayne County, Tennessee. It was in force for 36 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Nov 4, 1988, 4:24 PM CST (22:24 UTC)
Expired
Nov 4, 1988, 5:00 PM CST
In force
36 min
Issued by
NWS Nashville, TN
Area
Whole counties

County Wayne 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 12:00Z, 10.4 hours before the alert went out and 146 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 12:00Z on 1988-11-04Temperature 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 12:00Z on 1988-11-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 221 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
989 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
221 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
242 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 KBNA 042226
TORBNA
TNC181-042300-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NASHVILLE TN
424 PM CST FRI NOV 4 1988
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NASHVILLE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  500 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN MIDDLE TENNESSEE
          ...CENTRAL WAYNE
 
AT 415 PM THIS AFTERNOON THE WAYNE COUNTY SHERIFF OFFICE REPORTED
WIND DAMAGE AND A FUNNEL CLOUD SOUTHEAST OF WAYNESBORO. RADAR
IN NASHVILLE INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO IN CENTRAL WAYNE COUNTY
MOVING NORTHEAST.
 
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING.  AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH
OR LOW SPOT AND 
COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado 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, Nov 4, 10:57 AM CST, 5 hours 27 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NASHVILLE TN
1100 AM CST FRI NOV 4 1988

..SEVERE WEATHER POSSIBLE IN MIDDLE TENNESSEE TODAY AND TONIGHT...

THE NATIONAL SEVERE STORMS FORECAST CENTER IN KANSAS CITY MISSOURI IS
FORECASTING AN OUTBREAK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND TORNADOES TODAY INTO
TONIGHT OVER MUCH OF THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY AND TENNESSEE VALLEY.

MIDDLE TENNESSEE WILL HAVE A CHANCE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TODAY
THROUGH TONIGHT AS A DEEPENING STORM SYSTEM MOVES THROUGH THE UPPER
MISSISSIPPI VALLEY.  THE AREA WITH THE GREATEST THREAT OF SEVERE STORMS
AROUND MIDDLE TENNESSEE WILL BE SOUTHERN PORTIONS NEAR THE ALABAMA
STATE LINE...HOWEVER ALL AREAS WILL HAVE SOME POTENTIAL.

ALONG WITH THE THREAT OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS...GUSTY SURFACE WINDS
AND SOME HEAVY RAINS ARE FORECAST.  WINDS WILL BE GUSTING TO 35 MPH
AND SAOME GUSTS OVER 40 MPH ARE POSSIBLE.  FOR THIS REASON THERE IS A
LAKE WIND ADVISORY FOR THE BOATERS AND FISHERMEN.   RAINFALL AMOUNTS
COULD BE AS HIGH AS 2 INCHES IN SOME AREAS BY SATURDAY MORNING.
.
STAY TUNED TO RADIO...TV...OR NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR THE LATEST
INFORMATION ON THIS POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS WEATHER SITUATION.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Nov 4, 4:42 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXMontgomery, Robertson48 min
Nov 4, 5:24 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXDavidson, Sumner51 min
Nov 4, 5:36 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXDavidson54 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Tennessee, 1988Every tornado warning in 1988Tornadoes 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.