Alert archive / Tennessee / Flash Flood Warnings in 1989
Flash Flood Warning 9, NWS Memphis, TN
NWS Memphis, TN issued this flash flood warning at Jul 30, 1989, 8:30 PM CDT for Shelby County, Tennessee. It was in force for 2 hr.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- Jul 30, 1989, 8:30 PM CDT (01:30 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 30, 1989, 10:30 PM CDT
- In force
- 2 hr
- Issued by
- NWS Memphis, TN
- Area
- Whole counties
County Shelby 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
Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 00:00Z, 1.5 hours before the alert went out and 40 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
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 3591 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 2 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -15 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 2 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KMEM 310132
FFWMEM
TNC157-310330-
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
830 PM CDT SUN JUL 30 1989
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1030 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
IN WEST TENNESSEE
...SHELBY
THUNDERSTORMS WITH TORRENTIAL RAINFALLS HAVE CAUSED WIDESPREAD
FLOODING IN THE MEMPHIS TENNESSEE AREA AND THROUGHOUT SHELBY COUNTY.
ROADS IN MEMPHIS NEAR OVERTON SQUARE ARE NOW COVERED WITH OVER 3 FEET
OF WATER AND SOME MOTORISTS ARE NOW STRANDED IN THIER CARS. THIS IS A
DANGEROUS SITUATION AND PERSONS SHOULD BE PREPARED TO EVACUATE TO
HIGHER GROUND IF THEY ARE NEAR RISING WATERS.
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 FuLOWING STREAM...EVEN A SMALL
ONE...ON FOOT. TO ESCAPE RISING WATER MOVE UP 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, Jul 30, 6:11 PM CDT, 2 hours 19 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN 600 PM CDT SUN JUL 30 1989 BETWEEN 530 PM AND 6 PM VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS RUMBLED INTO NORTHEAST ARKANSAS. A FEW STORMS IN POINSETT AND CRAIGHEAD COUNTIES ...NEAR THE TOWNS OF HARRISBURG AND JONEBORO...WERE PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAINFALLS...GUSTY WINDS AND SMALL HAIL. PERSONS IN CRAIGHEAD AND POINSETT COUNTIES IN ARKANSAS SHOULD PREPARE FOR DANGEROUS WEATHER AND TAKE SHELTER AS STORMS APPROACH. THE HEAVY RAINS WITH THESE STORMS MAY CAUSE MINOR FLOODING OF ROADS...POOR VISIBILITIES AND THEREFORE HAZARDOUS DRIVING CONDITIONS. THE STORMS WERE MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 10 MILES AN HOUR AND WILL BE AFFECTING PERSONS LIVING ALONG THE MISSISSIPPI RIVIER BY 7 PM TONIGHT.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Memphis, TN issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 30, 7:51 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MEG | Shelby, Tipton | 69 min |
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.