Alert archive / Tennessee / Flash Flood Warnings in 1990

Flash Flood Warning 1, NWS Morristown, TN

December 23, 1990Cumberland County, Morgan County, Roane County, Tennessee

NWS Morristown, TN issued this flash flood warning at Dec 23, 1990, 1:21 AM CST for Cumberland County, Morgan County, Roane County, Tennessee. It was in force for 4 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Dec 23, 1990, 1:21 AM CST (07:21 UTC)
Expired
Dec 23, 1990, 5:30 AM CST
In force
4 hr
Issued by
NWS Morristown, TN
Area
Whole counties

Counties Cumberland County, TN, Morgan County, TN, Roane 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, 7.4 hours before the alert went out and 170 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 1990-12-23Temperature 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 00:00Z on 1990-12-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 325 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
464 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
94 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
325 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
347 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 230733 COR
FFWTYS
TNC035-129-145-231130-

BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING...CORRECTED...
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KNOXVILLE TN
221 AM EST (121 AM CST) SUN DEC 23 1990

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN KNOXVILLE HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  630 AM EST (530 AM CST)
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...

IN EAST CENTRAL TENNESSEE

   ...CUMBERLAND COUNTY...MORGAN COUNTY...ROANE COUNTY

NUMEROUS COUNTY ROADS AND SOME STATE ROADS HAVE STANDING WATER
WITH A FEW COUNTY ROADS BEING WASHED OUT...ESPECIALLY IN ROANE
AND MORGAN COUNTIES.

EVACUATION HAS TAKEN PLACE IN THE OAKDALE AREA ALONG HIGHWAY 299 IN
MORGAN COUNTY. PETERS FORD ROAD HAS BEEN CLOSED IN MORGAN COUNTY.

IN ROANE COUNTY SEVERAL STREETS IN ROCKWOOD ARE FLOODED AND HIGHWAY
61 NORTH OF HARRIMAN HAS STANDING WATER. HIGHWAY 58 6 TO 8 MILES
SOUTH OF KINGSTON IS FLOODED. OLD HARRIMAN HIGHWAY AND OLLIS ROAD
HAS CAVED IN IN SPOTS.

RESIDENTS CAN EXPECT 2 TO 3 HOURS MORE OF MODERATE TO OCCASIONALLY
HEAVY RAIN. IF YOU ARE IN A FLOOD PRONE AREA MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.


BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE
THE DANGERS OF FLOODS AND FLASH FLOODS.  IF FLASH FLOODING IS
OBSERVED...ACT QUICKLY.  MOVE UP TO ESCAPE FLOOD WATERS.  DO
NOT STAY IN AREAS SUBJECT TO FLOODING WHEN WATER BEGINS RISING.

MOST DEATHS IN FLASH FLOODING 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.

...CORRECTION WAS FOR OAKDALE (AREA) IN MORGAN COUNTY...

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, Dec 22, 7:38 PM CST, 5 hours 43 minutes before
TNZ001-002-003-004-005-008-016-230445-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KNOXVILLE TN
837 PM EST (737 PM CST) SAT DEC 22 1990

...A FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR EAST TENNESSEE FOR TONIGHT...

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSHOWERS CONTINUE OVER EAST TENNESSEE. RAINFALL
AMOUNTS OF 1 TO 3 INCHES HAVE OCCURRED ACROSS PORTIONS OF EAST
TENNESSEE IN THE PAST 24 HOURS. THIS HAS SATURATED THE GROUND AND
CAUSED THE RUNOFF INTO STREAMS AND RIVERS TO BE GREATER THEN NORMAL.

SOME WIDELY SCATTERED REPORTS OF STREAMS OVER THEIR BANKS AND OF A
MUD SLIDE HAVE BEEN REPORTED IN CUMBERLAND COUNTY. WITH ADDITIONAL
RAINFALL MANY SMALL STREAMS WILL BE AT BANKFULL LEVELS.
MOTORISTS ARE URGED TO USE CAUTION AND BE ALERT FOR WATER ON ROADWAYS.
DO NOT ATTEMPT TO CROSS ROADS THAT HAVE RUNNING WATER ACROSS THEM.

EAST TENNESSEE  IS IN STORE FOR A SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CHANGE IN THE
NEXT 48 HOURS. BY SUNDAY AFTERNOON TEMPERATURES WILL START TO FALL
AND WINTER WILL BE UPON US. AFTER A HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 60 TODAY...
WE CAN EXPECT ONLY A HIGH IN THE LOW 30S ON MONDAY. LOW TEMPERATURES
IN THE TEENS CAN BE EXPECTED MONDAY AND TUESDAY NIGHT.

WE MAY NOT HAVE A WHITE CHRISTMAS BUT BY-GOLLY WE WILL HAVE A COLD
ONE.
Special weather statement, Dec 22, 8:15 PM CST, 5 hours 6 minutes before
TNZ001-002-003-004-005-008-016-230415-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KNOXVILLE TN
914 PM EST (814 PM CST) SAT DEC 22 1990

...A FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR EAST TENNESSEE FOR TONIGHT...

AT 9 PM EST THE TENNESSEE HIGHWAY PATROL HAS REPORTED THAT WATER IS
RUNNING ACROSS STATE HIGHWAY 27 NORTH OF HARRIMAN IN ROANE COUNTY
AND THERE IS STANDING WATER ON SECTIONS OF STATE HIGHWAY 61 NEAR
OLIVER SPRINGS ON THE ANDERSON AND ROANE COUNTY LINE.

IN SOUTHEAST TENNESSEE MOST COUNTIES AROUND CHATTANOOGA HAVE ROAD
FLOODING AND EVEN SOME BRIDGES ARE FLOODED.

STATY TUNED TO THE NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR THE LATEST WEATHER
INFORMATION.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Dec 23, 3:37 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningMRXClaiborne, Union3 hr
Dec 23, 4:32 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningMRXBlount, Knox3 hr
Dec 23, 9:30 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningMRXBlount, Sevier2 hr
Dec 23, 2:05 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningMRXBlount, Sevier3 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Tennessee, 1990Every flash flood warning 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.