Alert archive / Tennessee / Flash Flood Warnings in 1989
Flash Flood Warning 14, NWS Atlanta, GA
NWS Atlanta, GA issued this flash flood warning at Jun 21, 1989, 12:10 PM EDT for Polk County, Tennessee. It was in force for 110 min.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- Jun 21, 1989, 12:10 PM EDT (16:10 UTC)
- Expired
- Jun 21, 1989, 2:00 PM EDT
- In force
- 110 min
- Issued by
- NWS Atlanta, GA
- Area
- Whole counties
County Polk 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
Athens Municipal, GA (KAHN), launched 12:00Z, 4.2 hours before the alert went out and 172 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 199 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -28 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 608 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 20 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 108 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 131 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.1
- Supercell composite
- 0.7
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KCHA 211615
FFWCHA
TNC139-211915-
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHATTANOOGA TN
1210 PM EDT WED JUN 21 1989
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHATTANOOGA HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 315 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
IN SOUTHEAST TENNESSEE
...EASTERN POLK
AT 12 10PM EDT WEATHER RADAR INDICATED SOME HEAVY RAIN OVER THE
EASTERN PORTIONS OF THE COUNTY MOVING NORTHEAST.
DUE TO THE SATURATED CONDITION OF THE GROUND AND ALREADY FULL STREAMS
SOME FLASH FLOODING WILL OCCUR WITH THE PASAGE OF THIS HEAVY RAIN.
A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS OCCURRING OR IS
IMMINENT. MOST FLASH FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES. DO NOT
ATTEMPT TO CROSS BRIDGES...DIPS...OR LOW SPOTS IF WATER COVERS
THE ROADWAY. NEVER TRY TO CROSS A FLOWING STREAM...EVEN A SMALL
ONE...ON FOOT. TO ESCAPE RISING WATER MOVE UP TO HIGHER GROUND.
DO NOT DRIVE YOURK VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE
ROADWAY. THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOUR CAR TO
CROSS SAFELY. VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE
ABANDONED QUICKLY. MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this flash flood 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 21, 8:24 AM EDT, 3 hours 46 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ATHENS GA 815AM WED JUN 21, 1989 DUE TO THE GREAT AMOUNT OF RAINFALL THAT FELL IN RABUN COUNTY GEORGIA ...IN THE NORTHEAST CORNER OF THE STATE...YESTERDAY THE LAKES IN THAT COUNTY HAVE REACHED HIGH WATER LEVELS. WHERE POSSIBLE GATES ON DAMS HAVE BEEN LOWERED IN ORDER TO DROP LAKES LEVELS AS FAST AS POSSIBLE DUE TO THE LIKELYHOOD OF ONE TO TWO MORE INCHES OF RAINFALL TODAY. PERSONS ON RIVERS ANDe STREAMS BELOW THE DAMS SHOULD EXPECT VERY HIGH WATER LEVELS FOR AT LEAST THE NEXT 24 HOURS... THE GOOD NEWS TO THIS IS THAT MOST OF THIS RELEASED WATER WILL FLOW INTO LAKE HARTWELL WHICH IS IN NEED OF WATER.
Special weather statement, Jun 21, 11:21 AM EDT, 49 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ATLANTA GA 1120 AM EDT WED JUN 21 1989 ...A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS APPROACHING METRO ATLANTA FROM THE WEST... AT 1115 AM EDT... WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS... MANY WITH MORE HEAVY RAIN... MOVING TOWARD METRO ATLANTA FROM THE WEST. THE LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED FROM ALLATOONA LAKE ACROSS MARIETTA TO JUST WEST OF FAIRBURN AND WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT ABOUT 35 MILES AN HOUR. A FLASH FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR NORTH GEORGIA INCLUDING THE ATLANTA METRO AREA. WITH ALL THE RAIN RECEIVED TUESDAY... IT WILL NOT TAKE MUCH MORE RAIN BEFORE CREEKS... DRAINAGE DITCHES... STREAMS... AND LAKES OVERFLOW AGAIN. THESE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE THE CAPABILITY OF PRODUCING 1 TO 2 INCHES OF RAIN IN A VERY SHORT TIME. STRONG GUSTY WINDS... FREQUENT DANGEROUS CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING... AND TORRENTIAL RAINS CAN BE EXPECTED ACROSS METRO ATLANTA IN THE NEXT COUPLE OF HOURS AS THESE THUNDERSTORMS MOVE SLOWLY THROUGH THE AREA. < PERSONS LIVING IN FLOOD PRONE AREAS OR NEAR CREEKS OR DRAINAGE DITCHES SHOULD BE ALERT AND BE READY TO MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND IF FLASH FLOODING BEGINS OR A WARNING IS ISSUED. NEVER DRIVE mCARS INTO WATER OF AN UNKNOWN DEPTH OR THROUGH FLOODED ROADWAYS. MOST DEATHS IN FLASH FLOODS OCCUR IN CARS. FURTHER STATEMENTS WILL BE ISSUED.
Special weather statement, Jun 21, 11:53 AM EDT, 17 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ATHENS GA 1145AM WED JUN 21, 1989 ...THUNDERSTORMS INCREASING AND MOVING INTO PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST GA... THUNDERSTORMS ARE INCREASING AGAIN AND BY 1145AM AAN AREA 25 MILES WIDE REACHED FROM NER BLUE RIDGE IN NORTH GEORGIA SOUTHWARD TO NEAR ATLANTA. THE STORMS ARE MOVING NORTHEAST AT NEAR 40 MPH WHILE THE AREA DRIFTS SLOWLY EASTWARD. HEAVY RAINS...CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING...AND GUSTY WINDS WILL PRODUCED BY SOME OF THESE STORMS. PERSONS IN UNION , LUMPKIN,AND DAWSON COUNTIES CAN EXPECT THESE STORMS TO MOVE INTO THEIR AREA DURING THE NEXT HOUR. PERSONS IN COUNTIES EAST AND SOUTHEST OF THOSE COUNTIES MENTION SHOULD EXPECT THE STORMS TO MOVE IN LATER THIS AFTERNOON.
Nearby
Flash Flood Warnings in Tennessee, 1989Every flash flood warning in 1989
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.