Alert archive / Tennessee / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 28, NWS Memphis, TN

June 11, 1989Dyer County, Tennessee

NWS Memphis, TN issued this tornado warning at Jun 11, 1989, 5:55 PM CDT for Dyer County, Tennessee. It was in force for 50 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 11, 1989, 5:55 PM CDT (22:55 UTC)
Expired
Jun 11, 1989, 6:45 PM CDT
In force
50 min
Issued by
NWS Memphis, TN
Area
Whole counties

County Dyer 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
Jun 11, 6:10 PM CDTTornado F0Dyer, TN
Jun 11, 6:30 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 0Dyer, 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

Paducah/Barkley, KY (KPAH), launched 12:00Z, 10.9 hours before the alert went out and 129 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, Paducah/Barkley, KY at 12:00Z on 1989-06-11Temperature 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, Paducah/Barkley, KY at 12:00Z on 1989-06-11The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 41 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
NaN m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
41 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
78 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 112255
TORMEM
TNC045-112345-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
555 PM CDT SUN JUN 11 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  645 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN WEST TENNESSEE
          ...NORTHWESTERN DYER
 
AT 550 PM CDT...RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO ALONG THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER
NEAR HELOISE TENNESSEE IN EXTREME WESTERN DYER COUNTY. IN ADDITION...A
TORNADO WAS REPORTED EARLIER IN THE MISSOURI BOOTHEEL SOUTH OF STEELE
MISSOURI.
 
THIS STORM IS MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 45 MILES AN HOUR.  THE TRACK
OF THIS STORM WILL NEAR THE COMMUNITIES OF MENGELWOOD AND LENOX.
 
THE STORM SHOULD PASS TO THE NORTHWEST OF DYERSBURG.
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING.  AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH
OR LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

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 11, 3:04 PM CDT, 2 hours 51 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE  MEMPHIS TN
300 PM CDT SUN JUN 11 1989

THUNDERSTORMS SCATTERED OVER MID SOUTH.

RADAR AND SATELLITE INFORMATION REVEAL THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER
THE MID SOUTH THIS AFTERNOON.  SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WATCHES COVER ALL
COUNTIES IN EASTERN ARKANSAS...WEST TENNESSEE...AND NORTH MISSISSIPPI.

THE HEAVIEST THUNDERSTORMS ARE CURRENTLY MOVING FROM EASTERN ARKANSAS
INTO NPRTHWEST TENNESSEE. A THUNDERSTORM WITH POSSIBLE HAIL IS NEARING
DRYERBURG.

THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE MUCH OF THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING OVER THE
MID SOUTH.  PEOPLE SHOULD REMAIN ALERT TO CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS
AND BE READY TO SEEK SHELTER IF THREATENING CON\DITIONS APPROACH.
Special weather statement, Jun 11, 3:09 PM CDT, 2 hours 46 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE  MEMPHIS TN
300 PM CDT SUN JUN 11 1989

THUNDERSTORMS SCATTERED OVER MID SOUTH.

RADAR AND SATELLITE INFORMATION REVEAL THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER
THE MID SOUTH THIS AFTERNOON.  SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WATCHES COVER ALL
COUNTIES IN EASTERN ARKANSAS...WEST TENNESSEE...AND NORTH MISSISSIPPI.

THE HEAVIEST THUNDERSTORMS ARE CURRENTLY MOVING FROM EASTERN ARKANSAS
INTO NORTHWEST TENNESSEE. A THUNDERSTORM WITH POSSIBLE HAIL IS NEARING
DYERSBURG.

THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE MUCH OF THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING OVER THE
MID SOUTH.  PEOPLE SHOULD REMAIN ALERT TO CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS
AND BE READY TO SEEK SHELTER IF THREATENING CO_NDITIONS APPROACH.
Special weather statement, Jun 11, 3:10 PM CDT, 2 hours 45 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT CORRECTION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE  MEMPHIS TN
300 PM CDT SUN JUN 11 1989

THUNDERSTORMS SCATTERED OVER MID SOUTH.

RADAR AND SATELLITE INFORMATION REVEAL THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER
THE MID SOUTH THIS AFTERNOON.  SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WATCHES COVER ALL
COUNTIES IN EASTERN ARKANSAS...WEST TENNESSEE...AND NORTH MISSISSIPPI.

THE HEAVIEST THUNDERSTORMS ARE CURRENTLY MOVING FROM EASTERN ARKANSAS
INTO NORTHWEST TENNESSEE. A THUNDERSTORM WITH POSSIBLE HAIL IS NEARING
DYERSBURG.

THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE MUCH OF THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING OVER THE
MID SOUTH.  PEOPLE SHOULD REMAIN ALERT TO CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS
AND BE READY TO SEEK SHELTER IF `THREATENING CONDITIONS APPROACH.
Special weather statement, Jun 11, 5:43 PM CDT, 12 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUPELO MS
540  PM CDT SUN JUN 11 1989

  ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NO 460 IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM FOR MUCH
     OF NORTH MISSISSIPPI...

AT 535 PM CDT...TUPELO NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR WAS INDICATING
ISOLATED THUNDERSHOWERS FROM HOLMES...ATTALA AND WINSTON COUNTIES IN
CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI EXTENDING TO THE NORTH TO SOUTH OF MEMEPHIS
TENNESSEE AND THE BENTON AND TIPPAH COUNTY AREA IN NORTH CENTRAL
MISSISSIPPI.

THESE THUNDERSHOWERS WERE MOVING TO THE NORTH NORTHEAST AT 35 MILES
AN HOUR.

THESE THUNDERSHOWERS WERE POSING NO IMMEDIATE THREAT AT THIS TIME
BUT PEOPLE LIVING IN OR NEAR THE WATCH AREA SHOULD REMAIN ALERT FOR
THREATENING WEATHER CONDITIONS.

MORE STATEMENTS WILL BE ISSUED AS CONTIONS WARRANT.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 11, 6:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGShelby44 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.