Alert archive / Tennessee / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1989

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 21, NWS Nashville, TN

May 20, 19894 counties in Tennessee

NWS Nashville, TN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 20, 1989, 4:26 AM CDT for 4 counties in Tennessee. It was in force for 64 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
May 20, 1989, 4:26 AM CDT (09:26 UTC)
Expired
May 20, 1989, 5:30 AM CDT
In force
64 min
Issued by
NWS Nashville, TN
Area
Whole counties

Counties Cannon County, TN, Coffee County, TN, Warren County, TN, White 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
May 20, 5:20 AM CDTThunderstorm Wind 0Coffee, 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 00:00Z, 9.4 hours before the alert went out and 82 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 00:00Z on 1989-05-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 999 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 00:00Z on 1989-05-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 210 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
999 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-18 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1198 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
53 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
210 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
414 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.4
Supercell composite
6.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KBNA 200928
SVRBNA
TNC015-031-177-185-201030-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NASHVILLE TN
426 AM CDT SAT MAY 20 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NASHVILLE HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  530 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
 
IN MIDDLE TENNESSEE
          ...CANNON...COFFEE...WARREN...WHITE
 
RADAR INDICATES SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS FROM NORTHERN WILLIAMSON
COUNTY THROUGH RUTHERFORD...CANNON...WARREN AND WHITE COUNTIES.
THE STORMS WERE MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 15 TO 20 MPH.  MARBLE SIZE
HAIL HAS BEEN REPORTED IN WARREN COUNTY NEAR MCMINNVILLE.  THE
STORMS WILL BE MOVING INTO NORTHERN COFFEE COUNTY IN THE NEXT HOUR.
 
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS.  HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO
DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 20, 1:52 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXRobertson, Sumner53 min
May 20, 1:52 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXMontgomery53 min
May 20, 2:57 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXCheatham, Davidson48 min
May 20, 3:27 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXCannon, DeKalb, Wilson48 min
May 20, 3:45 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXDavidson, Rutherford, Williamson45 min
May 20, 4:34 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXRutherford, Williamson56 min
May 20, 5:35 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXGiles, Lawrence, Lewis, Maury55 min
May 20, 5:46 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXBedford, Marshall59 min
May 20, 5:46 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXCoffee, Franklin, Moore59 min
May 20, 6:33 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXLawrence, Lewis, Wayne57 min
May 20, 6:33 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXGiles, Lincoln57 min
May 20, 7:28 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXGiles, Lawrence, Wayne47 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.