Alert archive / Tennessee / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 16, NWS Memphis, TN

April 3, 1989Haywood County, Tennessee

NWS Memphis, TN issued this tornado warning at Apr 3, 1989, 10:28 PM CDT for Haywood County, Tennessee. It was in force for 32 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
Apr 3, 1989, 10:28 PM CDT (03:28 UTC)
Expired
Apr 3, 1989, 11:00 PM CDT
In force
32 min
Issued by
NWS Memphis, TN
Area
Whole counties

County Haywood 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
Apr 3, 10:35 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 0Haywood, 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

Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 00:00Z, 3.5 hours before the alert went out and 103 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, Little Rock, AR at 00:00Z on 1989-04-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Little Rock, AR at 00:00Z on 1989-04-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 161 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
3544 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
44 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
161 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
336 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 KMEM 040329
TORMEM
TNC075-040400-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
1028 PM CDT MON APR 3 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1100 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN WEST TENNESSEE
          ...HAYWOOD
 
AT 1025 PM WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM MOVING INTO
WESTERN HAYWOOD COUNTY. MOVING TOWARD THE EAST AT 45 MPH THIS STORM
WILL AFFECT THE BROWNSVILLE AREA AROUND 1045 TO 11 PM TONIGHT.
 
A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THE WARNED AREA.  REMEMBER
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES
WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING.  REMAIN CALM BUT BE ALERT TO
RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS.

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, Apr 3, 7:05 PM CDT, 3 hours 23 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE  MEMPHIS TN
700 PM CDT MON APR 03 1989

 ...TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 78 CONTINUES TO AFFECT PORTIONS OF
NORTHEAST ARKANAS...
...LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS MOVING TOWARD NORTHEAST ARKANSAS...

A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS AT 7 PM EXTENDED FROM SOUTH OF CAPE GIRARDEAU
MISSOURI TO NORTH-CENTRAL ARKANSAS NEAR VAN BUREN. THESE THUNDERSTORMS
HAVE HAD  HISTORY OF PRODUCING HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS.

THIS LINE IS MOVING SOUTHEAST AROUND 20 MPH SO IN A COUPLE OF HOURS
THE LINE SHOULD BE REACHING CLAY AND GREENE COUNTIES IN NORTHEAST
ARKANSAS...SO RESIDENTS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ALERT FOR SEVERE
WEATHER AND CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION
VIA NOAA WEATHER RADIO...TELEVISION AND  COMMERCIAL RADIO

SHOULD YOU EXPERIENCE SEVERE WEATHER...INFORM YOUR LAW ENFORCEMENT
AGENCY AND REQUEST THAT THEY RELAY YOUR REPORT TO THE NATIONAL
WEATHER SERVICE.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 3, 9:52 PM CDTTornado WarningMEGLauderdale38 min
Apr 3, 10:08 PM CDTTornado WarningMEGLauderdale, Tipton37 min
Apr 3, 10:39 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGShelby51 min
Apr 3, 10:39 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGMadison51 min
Apr 3, 10:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGFayette44 min
Apr 3, 10:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGHardeman53 min
Apr 3, 11:04 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGCarroll41 min
Apr 3, 11:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGHenderson49 min
Apr 3, 11:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGChester45 min
Apr 3, 11:22 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGShelby53 min
Apr 3, 11:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGDecatur, Hardin45 min
Apr 3, 11:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGBenton53 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Tennessee, 1989Every tornado warning in 1989Tornadoes 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.