Alert archive / Tennessee / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1989

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 76, NWS Atlanta, GA

June 2, 1989Polk County, Tennessee

NWS Atlanta, GA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 2, 1989, 2:28 PM EDT for Polk County, Tennessee. It was in force for 47 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jun 2, 1989, 2:28 PM EDT (18:28 UTC)
Expired
Jun 2, 1989, 3:15 PM EDT
In force
47 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, 6.5 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.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Athens Municipal, GA at 12:00Z on 1989-06-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 930 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, Athens Municipal, GA at 12:00Z on 1989-06-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -10 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
930 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-79 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1441 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-10 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
2 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 021832
SVRCHA
TNC139-021915-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHATTANOOGA TN
228 PM EDT FRI JUN 2 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHATTANOOGA HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  315 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTHEAST TENNESSEE
          ...POLK
 
AT 225PM EDT WEATHER RADAR INDICATED POSSIBLE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
MOVING INTO THE WESTERN SECTIONS OF POLK COUNTY. THESE THUNDERSTORMS
ARE MOVING TOWARD THE EASTNORTHEAST AT AROUND 25 MPH.
 
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.

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 2, 12:46 PM EDT, 1 hour 42 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ATLANTA GA
1240 PM EDT FRI JUN 2 1989

...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER NORTHWEST GEORGIA...

SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS HAVE BEEN INCREASING OVER
NORTHWEST GEORGIA DURING THE PAST HOUR. AT 1230 PM EDT RADAR
SHOWED THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS IN A LINE THAT EXTENDED FROM
CHATTANOOGA TENNESSEE SOUTHWARD THROUGH LA FAYETTE TO SUMMERVILLE
TO THE ALABAMA BORDER WEST OF CAVE SPRINGS. THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS
WERE NEAR TRION AND ABOUT 15 MILES WEST OF CAVE SPRINGS. THIS LINE WAS
MOVING TO THE EAST AT ABOUT 25 MILES AN HOUR.

THIS LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD CONTINUE TO MOVE ACROSS NORTHWEST
GEORGIA EARLY THIS AFTERNOON. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOPE
ELSEWHERE ACROSS NORTHWEST GEORGIA DURING THE AFTERNOON FROM THE
INTENSE HEATING. THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS COULD PRODUCE STRONG
GUSTY WINDS...HAIL...DANGEROUS CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING...AND LOCALLY?
HEAVY RAINFALL. PERSONS ACROSS NORTHWEST GEORGIA SHOULD BE ON THE
LOOKOUT FOR THESE STORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND TAKE APPROPRIATE
PRECAUTIONS.
Local storm report, Jun 2, 12:58 PM EDT, 1 hour 30 minutes before
LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MACON GA
1255 PM EDT FRI JUN 2 1989

COUNTY..... CRAWFORD
SOURCE..... FLINT EMC
TIME......  600 PM EDT
LOCATION... NEAR KNOXVILLE GA.
TYPE STORM. SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
WIDTH...... NA
LENGTH..... NA
HAIL....... NONE REPORTED
DAMAGE..... TREES/POWER LINES BLOWN DOWN.
TREES...... SEVERAL TREES BLOWN DOWN NEAR KNOXVILLE.
INJURES.... NA
COST....... UNKNOWN
WATCHES.... NONE
WARNINGS... SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WLARNING IN EFFECT
Special weather statement, Jun 2, 2:12 PM EDT, 16 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ATLANTA GA
210 PM EDT FRI JUN 2 1989

SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS HAVE CONTINUED TO DEVELOPE
ACROSS NORTHWEST GEORGIA THIS AFTERNOON. AT 200 PM EDT RADAR
SHOWED A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS FROM CHATSWORTH SOUTHWARD TO CALHOUN
TO NEAR ROCKMART. THIS LINE WAS MOVING EAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR.
OTHER SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS HAVE FORMED AROUND THE LA GRANGE...
MANCHESTER...AND THOMASTON VICINITIES. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE
MOVING TO THE EAST NORTHEAST AT ABOUT 20 MILES AN HOUR.

THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS WERE IN THE CHATSWORTH VICINITY...
JUST NORTHWEST OF LAKE ALATOONA...AND NEAR MANCHESTER. THESE
STORMS ARE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING STRONG GUSTY WINDS...SMALL HAIL
...DANGEROUS CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING...AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN.
BOATERS ON LAKES...ESPECIALLY LAKE ALATOONA SHOULD BE PARTICULARLY
ALERT TO THE APPROACH OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS AND SEEK SHELTER. RESIDENTS
ELSEWHERE ACROSS NORTHWEST GEORGIA SHOULD REMAIN ALERT TO THESE
THUNDERSTORMS AND TAKE APPROPRIATE ACTION.

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Tennessee, 1989Every severe thunderstorm 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.