Alert archive / Tennessee / Tornado Warnings in 1989
Tornado Warning 24, NWS Memphis, TN
NWS Memphis, TN issued this tornado warning at Jun 4, 1989, 7:44 PM CDT for Fayette County, Shelby County, Tennessee. It was in force for 46 min. 2 reports 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
- Jun 4, 1989, 7:44 PM CDT (00:44 UTC)
- Expired
- Jun 4, 1989, 8:30 PM CDT
- In force
- 46 min
- Issued by
- NWS Memphis, TN
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Fayette County, TN, Shelby 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 4, 8:00 PM CDT | Tornado F1 | Shelby, TN | |
| Jun 4, 8:15 PM CDT | Tornado F0 | Fayette, 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, 0.7 hours before the alert went out and 48 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
- 3601 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 31 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 75 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 106 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 050045
TORMEM
TNC047-157-050130-
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
744 PM CDT SUN JUN 4 1989
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 830 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
IN WEST TENNESSEE
...NORTHWEST FAYETTE...NORTHERN SHELBY
NUMEROUS SIGHTINGS OF A TORNADO HAVE BEEN REPORTED FROM NORTH MEMPHIS
NEAR THE FRAZIER AREA ALONG FITE ROAD. NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR
IS ALSO INDICATING THAT THE STORM IS CONTINUING TO THE EAST AT 35
MILES AN HOUR.
THE PATH OF THE STORM WOULD CONTINUE ALONG NORTHERN MEMPHIS TOWARD
BARTLETT..ELLENDALE..AND ARLINGTON IN SHELBY COUNTY AND INTO NORTHWEST
FAYETTE COUNTY.
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION. ACT QUICKLY. IF YOU ARE
IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF
AVAILABLE. OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR POSSIBLE. AVOID WINDOWS. ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES
FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.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, Jun 4, 5:09 PM CDT, 2 hours 35 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
500 PM CDT SUN JUN 4 1989
...THUNDERSTORMS PUSHING INTO NORTHEASTERN ARKANSAS...
THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN...STRONG GUSTY WINDS...AND POSSIBLE
SMALL HAIL ARE MOVING INTO NORTHEAST ARKANSAS. DANGEROUS LIGHTNING
CAN ALSO BE EXPECTED WITH THESE THUNDERSTORMS.
CONDITIONS FAVOR THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS AND
PEOPLE SHOULD BE ALERT FOR CHANGING WEATHER AND BE PREPARED TO SEEK
SHELTER IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES OR A WARNING IS ISSUED.
THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS ARE JUST NORTH OF COTTON PLANT ARKANSAS
AND ARE MOVING NORTHEASTWARD AT 45 MPH. THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE
INTO CROSS AND POINSETT COUNTIES IN THE NEXT HOUR.
STAY TUNED TO THIS STATION FOR FURTHER WEATHER UPDATES.The office that day
Everything else NWS Memphis, TN issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 4, 8:29 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MEG | Shelby, Tipton | 61 min |
| Jun 4, 8:29 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MEG | Fayette, Haywood | 61 min |
| Jun 4, 9:16 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Madison | 44 min |
| Jun 5, 11:54 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | MEG | Shelby | 2 hr |
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.