Alert archive / Tennessee / Tornado Warnings in 1990

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Memphis, TN

May 19, 1990Lauderdale County, Tipton County, Tennessee

NWS Memphis, TN issued this tornado warning at May 19, 1990, 4:37 PM CDT for Lauderdale County, Tipton County, Tennessee. It was in force for 68 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 19, 1990, 4:37 PM CDT (21:37 UTC)
Expired
May 19, 1990, 5:45 PM CDT
In force
68 min
Issued by
NWS Memphis, TN
Area
Whole counties

Counties Lauderdale County, TN, Tipton 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 19, 5:00 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 0Lauderdale, 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 12:00Z, 9.6 hours before the alert went out and 92 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, Little Rock, AR at 12:00Z on 1990-05-19Temperature 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, Little Rock, AR at 12:00Z on 1990-05-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 23 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
3610 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
23 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
232 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

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, May 19, 2:50 PM CDT, 1 hour 47 minutes before
MSZ004-005-007-192045-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUPELO MS
250 PM CDT SAT MAY 19 1990

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 281 IN EFFECT FOR NORTH
MISSISSIPPI UNTIL 9 PM CDT...

AT 230 PM CDT WEATHER SERVICE RADAR DID NOT INDICATE ANY THUNDERSTORMS
OVER NORTH MISSISSIPPI AT THIS TIME...HOWEVER RADAR DID SHOW SCATTERED
CLUSTERS OF VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER SOUTHEAST ARKANSAS AND
NORTHEAST LOUISIANA. THE ACTIVITY EXTENDED FROM MONROE IN NORTHEAST
LOUISIANA TO  MONTICELLO IN SOUTHEAST ARKANSAS.

MOVEMENT WAS TO THE EAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR.

PEOPLE IN NORTH MISSISSIPPI NEED TO BE WEATHER ALERT AND TAKE MEASURES
TO PREPARE FOR THE THREATENING WEATHER THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

NNNN
Special weather statement, May 19, 2:55 PM CDT, 1 hour 42 minutes before
TNZ014-015-ARZ012-013-192030-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE  MEMPHIS TN
245 PM CDT SAT MAY 19 1990

 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO CRAIGHEAD COUNTY ARKANSAS...

AT 240 PM RADAR SHOWED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO WEST CRAIGHEAD
COUNTY ARKANSAS. THESE STORMS MAY HAVE DESTRUCTIVE WINDS...HAIL AND
HEAVY RAINFALL. ITS CURRENT MOVEMENT IS TO THE EAST AT 30 MILES AN
HOUR MEANING IT WILL BE IN THE  JONESBORO VICINITY BY 330 PM.

PERSONS LIVING IN AND AROUND THE JONESBORO AREA SHOULD BE ON THE ALERT
FOR DANGEROUS WEATHER AND TAKE IMMEDIATE SHELTER WHEN STORMS APPROACH.
THE STORMS MAY ALSO CAUSE STREET FLOODING DUE TO HEAVY RAINFALLS. DRIVERS
SHOULD THEREFORE BE ALERT FOR WATER COVERED ROADS.
Special weather statement, May 19, 4:21 PM CDT, 16 minutes before
TNZ014-015-ARZ012-013-192200-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE  MEMPHIS TN
420 PM CDT SAT MAY 19 1990

 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS APPROACHING THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER AND THE
MEMPHIS TENNESSSEE AREA...

AT 415 PM THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL...STRONG WINDS AND HEAVY RAINS
WERE MOVING EAST AT 40 MILES AN HOUR INTO MISSISSIPPI COUNTY ARKANSAS.
AT THE CURRENT MOVEMENT THESE STORMS WILL MOVE ACROSS THE MISSISSIPPI
RIVER INTO WEST TENNESSEE INCLUDING THE MEMPHIS METROPOLITAN AREA
BY 5 PM THIS EVENING.

PERSONS IN NORTHEAST ARKANSAS AND WEST TENNESSEE SHOULD PREPARE FOR
DANGEROUS WEATHER AND SEEK APPROPRIATE SHELTER WHEN THUNDERSTORMS
APPROACH. SOME STORMS IN WEST TENNESSEE MAY BECOME} SEVERE AND PERSONS
MUST KEEP INFORMED OF THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION.

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Tennessee, 1990Every tornado warning in 1990Tornadoes in 1990

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.