Alert archive / Tennessee / Tornado Warnings in 1988

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Nashville, TN

December 24, 1988Wilson County, Tennessee

NWS Nashville, TN issued this tornado warning at Dec 24, 1988, 7:19 AM CST for Wilson County, Tennessee. It was in force for 41 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Dec 24, 1988, 7:19 AM CST (13:19 UTC)
Expired
Dec 24, 1988, 8:00 AM CST
In force
41 min
Issued by
NWS Nashville, TN
Area
Whole counties

County Wilson 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, 1.3 hours before the alert went out and 27 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 1988-12-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 155 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 1988-12-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 587 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
155 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-18 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
659 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
66 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
587 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
670 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
2.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBNA 241320
TORBNA
TNC189-241400-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NASHVILLE TN
719 AM CST SAT DEC 24 1988
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NASHVILLE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  800 AM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN MIDDLE TENNESSEE
          ...WILSON
 
A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS IS CURRENTLY MOVING INTO THE
WESTERN EDGE OF WILSON COUNTY. THIS STORM SYSTEM HAS PRODUCED
TORNADOS IN DAVIDSON AND WILLIAMSON COUNTIES IN THE PAST HOUR.
THE STORMS ARE MOVING EAST AT 45 MPH AND WILL THREATEN WILSON
COUNTY FOR THE NEXT 45 MINUTES.
 
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORIKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.

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, Dec 24, 6:12 AM CST, 1 hour 7 minutes before
KBNA 241212
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NASHVILLE TN
610 AM CST SAT DEC 24 1988

...TORNADO WATCH EXTENDED UNTIL NOON CST TODAY...

THE TORNADO WATCH FOR MOST OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE HAS BEEN EXTENDED
UNTIL 12 NOON CST.

THE MIDDLE TENNESSEE COUNTIES INLUDED IN THE WATCH ARE BEDFORD...
CHEATHAM...CLAY...DAVIDSON...DICKSON...GILES...HICKMAN...HOUSTON...
HUMPHREYS...JACKSON...LAWRENCE...LEWIS...MACON...MARSHALL...MAURY.
..MONTGOMERY...PERRY...ROBERTSON...RUTHERFORD...SMITH...STEWART...
SUMNER...TROUSDALE...WAYNE...WILLIAMSON AND WILSON.

AT 605 AM RADAR IN NASHVILLE SHOWED A LARGE AREA OF LIGHT RAIN OVER
MIDDLE TENNESSEE.  A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WAS FROM EASTERN SUMNER
COUNTY NEAR BETHPAGE THROUGH THE METRO NASHVILLE AREA TO NEAR
CENTERVILLE.  SO FAR THESE STORMS HAVE NOT PRODUCED ANY SEVERE WEATHER.
STAY TUNED TO THIS STATION FOR UPDATED WEATHER INFORMATION.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Dec 24, 7:08 AM CSTTornado WarningOHXDavidson, Williamson37 min
Dec 24, 7:45 AM CSTTornado WarningOHXDavidson, Wilson30 min
Dec 24, 7:45 AM CSTTornado WarningOHXWilliamson30 min
Dec 24, 9:05 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXDeKalb25 min
Dec 24, 9:15 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXPutnam30 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.