Alert archive / Tennessee / Flash Flood Warnings in 1989

Flash Flood Warning 13, NWS Morristown, TN

September 22, 1989Sevier County, Tennessee

NWS Morristown, TN issued this flash flood warning at Sep 22, 1989, 9:23 AM EDT for Sevier County, Tennessee. It was in force for 4 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Sep 22, 1989, 9:23 AM EDT (13:23 UTC)
Expired
Sep 22, 1989, 1:30 PM EDT
In force
4 hr
Issued by
NWS Morristown, TN
Area
Whole counties

County Sevier 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

Athens Municipal, GA (KAHN), launched 12:00Z, 1.4 hours before the alert went out and 205 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, Athens Municipal, GA at 12:00Z on 1989-09-22Temperature 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, Athens Municipal, GA at 12:00Z on 1989-09-22The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -193 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
666 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-193 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-92 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 KTYS 221323
FFWTYS
TNC155-221730-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KNOXVILLE TN
923 AM EDT FRI SEP 22 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN KNOXVILLE HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  130 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN EAST CENTRAL TENNESSEE
          ...SEVIER
 
AT 915AM FLASH FLOODING WAS REPORTED IN PITTMAN CENTER ON WEBBS CREEK
AND NEAR GATLINBURG ON BASKIN CREEK AND DUDLEY CREEK. WEBBS CREEK ROAD
IS CLOSED AND THE COBBLEY NOB GOLF COURSE ROAD IS UNDER WATRER
AT PITTMAN CENTER. WATER IS RISING RAPIDLY ON BOTH THE MIDDLE PRONG
AND THE WEST PRONG OF THE LITTLE PIGEON RIVER.
 
 
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 FLOWING STREAM...EVEN A SMALL
ONE...ON FOOT.  TO ESCAPE RISING WATER MOVE UP TO HIGHER GROUND.
 
A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS IMMINENT.  IT'S
IMPORTANT TO KNOW WHERE YOU ARE RELATIVE TO STREAMS...RIVERS...OR
CREEKS WHICH CAN BECOME KILLERS IN HEAVY RAINS.  CAMPERS SHOULD
AVOID CAMP$ING ALONG STREAMS OR CREEKS DURING THREATENING RAINS.

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, Sep 22, 8:37 AM EDT, 46 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BRISTOL TN
830 AM EDT FRI SEP 22 1989

TROPICAL STORM HUGO..AT 830 AM THIS MORNING..WAS LOCATED ABOUT
25 TO 30 MILES SOUTHEAST OF THE TRI-CITIES MOVING TO THE NORTH
AT 30 MILES AN HOUR.

WIND GUSTS TO 50 MILES AN HOUR AND HEAVY DOWNPOURS CAN BE EXPECTED
IN THE TRI-CITIES AREA FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS UNTIL HUGO MOVES
FURTHER NORTH INTO VIRGINIA.

PARTS OF SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA CLOSEST TO THE TROPICAL STORM CAN ALSO
EXPECT  STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND HEAVY RAINS.

BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL IF YOU HAVE TO GO OUTSIDE THIS MORNING..AS THE
STRONG WINDS CAN CAUSE TREE LIMBS AND POWER LINES TO SNAP AND SOME
ROOFING TO BLOW OFF.

FURTHER STATEMENTS WILL BE ISSUED AS NEEDED.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 22, 8:49 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningMRXGreene4 hr
Sep 22, 8:49 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningMRXCarter4 hr
Sep 22, 10:30 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningMRXCocke4 hr
Sep 22, 10:30 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningMRXBlount4 hr
Sep 22, 10:44 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningMRXJohnson5 hr

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.