Alert archive / Tennessee / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Nashville, TN

April 4, 1989DeKalb County, Tennessee

NWS Nashville, TN issued this tornado warning at Apr 4, 1989, 1:40 AM CDT for DeKalb County, Tennessee. It was in force for 35 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Apr 4, 1989, 1:40 AM CDT (06:40 UTC)
Expired
Apr 4, 1989, 2:15 AM CDT
In force
35 min
Issued by
NWS Nashville, TN
Area
Whole counties

County DeKalb 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

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 00:00Z, 6.7 hours before the alert went out and 71 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 1989-04-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 119 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 1989-04-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 337 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
119 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-120 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
735 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
56 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
337 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
419 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBNA 040641
TORBNA
TNC015-041-149-189-040715-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NASHVILLE TN
140 AM CDT TUE APR 4 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NASHVILLE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  215 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
 
IN MIDDLE TENNESSEE
          ...CANNON...DEKALB...NORTHERN RUTHERFORD...SOUTHERN WILSON
 
POLICE REPORT A TORNADO TOUCHDOWN ON RICHLAND ROAD IN THE
CITY LIMITS OF SMYRNA IN THE PAST 15 MINUTES. DAMAGE WAS
UNKNOWN.  THE TORNADO IS MOVING NORTHEAST TOWARDS SOUTHERN
WILSON AND COULD ALSO AFFECT DEKALB AND CANNON COUNTIES.
 
.
 
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, Apr 3, 10:00 PM CDT, 3 hours 40 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NASHVILLE TN
1000 PM CDT MON APR 3 1989

...TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT FOR ALL OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE UNTIL 2 AM
CDT...

A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO EXTREME NORTHWEST
MIDDLE TENNESSEE.

WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS
JUST ENTERING STEWART AND MONTGOMERY COUNTIES.

GUSTY WINDS..FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND HAIL ARE POSSIBLE WITH THE
PASSAGE OF THE STRONG THUNDERSTORMS.

THE LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WAS MOVING EAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR.
Special weather statement, Apr 3, 11:00 PM CDT, 2 hours 40 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NASHVILLE TN
1100 PM CDT MON APR 3 1989

...TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT FOR ALL OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE UNTIL 2 AM
CDT...

A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS IN NORTHWEST MIDDLE TENNESSEE...

WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS
FROM BOWLING GREEN KENTUCKY SOUTHWEST ACROSS MONTGOMERY AND
HOUSTON COUNTIES IN NORTHWEST MIDDLE TENNESSEE AND CONTINUED
INTO WEST TENNESSEE TO NEAR JACKSON.

THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY WAS IN SOUTHERN MONTGOMERY
COUNTY SOUTH OF CLARKSVILLE TENNESSEE.

GUSTY WINDS..FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND HAIL ARE POSSIBLE WITH THE
PASSAGE OF THE STRONG THUNDERSTORMS.

THE LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WAS MOVING EAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 3, 11:38 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXPerry, Wayne67 min
Apr 3, 11:38 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXHumphreys67 min
Apr 4, 12:01 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXHickman, Lewis44 min
Apr 4, 12:24 AM CDTTornado WarningOHXLewis, Maury36 min
Apr 4, 12:52 AM CDTTornado WarningOHXRutherford, Wilson38 min
Apr 4, 1:08 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXMacon, Smith, Trousdale52 min
Apr 4, 1:35 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXClay, Jackson, Putnam40 min
Apr 4, 1:40 AM CDTTornado WarningOHXCannon, Rutherford, Wilson35 min
Apr 4, 2:00 AM CDTTornado WarningOHXWhite45 min
Apr 4, 2:14 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXWarren31 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.