Alert archive / Tennessee / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1989

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 87, NWS Memphis, TN

July 30, 1989Shelby County, Tipton County, Tennessee

NWS Memphis, TN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 30, 1989, 6:48 PM CDT for Shelby County, Tipton County, Tennessee. It was in force for 57 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
Jul 30, 1989, 6:48 PM CDT (23:48 UTC)
Expired
Jul 30, 1989, 7:45 PM CDT
In force
57 min
Issued by
NWS Memphis, TN
Area
Whole counties

Counties Shelby County, TN, Tipton County, TN

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jul 30, 7:15 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 0Shelby, TN

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in. Storm Data before 1996 records only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail.

The nearest sounding before it

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 12:00Z, 11.8 hours before the alert went out and 304 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 1989-07-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1750 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 1989-07-30The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 60 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
1750 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-36 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
947 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
13 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
60 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
75 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

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, Jul 30, 6:11 PM CDT, 37 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.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 30, 6:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGCraighead, Poinsett64 min

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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.