Alert archive / Tennessee / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1990

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 9, NWS Morristown, TN

May 1, 1990Sullivan County, Tennessee

NWS Morristown, TN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 1, 1990, 3:47 PM EDT for Sullivan County, Tennessee. It was in force for 58 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 1, 1990, 3:47 PM EDT (19:47 UTC)
Expired
May 1, 1990, 4:45 PM EDT
In force
58 min
Issued by
NWS Morristown, TN
Area
Whole counties

County Sullivan 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

Huntington/Tri S, WV (KHTS), launched 12:00Z, 7.8 hours before the alert went out and 207 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, Huntington/Tri S, WV at 12:00Z on 1990-05-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 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, Huntington/Tri S, WV at 12:00Z on 1990-05-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 56 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
704 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
52 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
56 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
41 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 KTRI 011947
SVRTRI
TNC163-012045-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BRISTOL TN
347 PM EDT TUE MAY 1 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BRISTOL HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  445 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN NORTHEAST TENNESSEE
 
   ...SULLIVAN COUNTY
 
 
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE QHAIL...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.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm 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 1, 1:35 PM EDT, 2 hours 12 minutes before
TNZ002-TNZ004-011830-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KNOXVILLE TN
133 PM EDT TUE MAY 1 1990

AT 1:25 PM EDT/12:25 PM EDT A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WAS LOCATED FROM
15 MILES WEST OF COOKEVILLE TO JELLICO. THE HEAVIEST THUNDERSTORMS
IN THIS LINE WERE LOCATED IN THE SOUTHWEST CORNER OF FENTRESS COUNTY
AND 10 MILES SOUTH OF ONEIDA.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE MOVING RAPIDLY EAST AT 40 MPH. PERSONS IN
FENTRESS AND CAMPBELL COUNTIES SHOULD BE ALERT FOR THE POSSIBILITY
OF DANGEROUS LIGHTNING, SMALL HAIL AND GUSTY WINDS AS THESE STORMS
MOVE THROUGH THESE COUNTIES DURING THE NEXT HOUR.
Special weather statement, May 1, 1:41 PM EDT, 2 hours 6 minutes before
TNZ002-TNZ004-011830-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KNOXVILLE TN
133 PM EDT TUE MAY 1 1990

AT 1:25 PM EDT/12:25 PM CDT A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WAS LOCATED FROM
15 MILES WEST OF COOKEVILLE TO JELLICO. THE HEAVIEST THUNDERSTORMS
IN THIS LINE WERE LOCATED IN THE SOUTHWEST CORNER OF FENTRESS COUNTY
AND 10 MILES SOUTH OF ONEIDA.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE MOVING RAPIDLY EAST AT 40 MPH. PERSONS IN
FENTRESS AND CAMPBELL COUNTIES SHOULD BE ALERT FOR THE POSSIBILITY
OF DANGEROUS LIGHTNING, SMALL HAIL AND GUSTY WINDS AS THESE STORMS
MOVE THROUGH THESE COUNTIES DURING THE NEXT HOUR.
Special weather statement, May 1, 2:46 PM EDT, 1 hour 1 minute before
TNZ001-020100-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BRISTOL TN
230 PM EDT TUE MAY 1 1990

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH UNTIL 9PM FOR NORTHEAST TENNESSEE...

AT 230 PM EDT A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WITH VERY HEAVY RAINFALL WAS IN
EXTREME SOUTHEAST KENTUCKY NEAR JENKINS.

A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN WERE IN A 20 MILE WIDE
AREA FROM WALKER KENTUCKY TO CROSSVILLE TENNESSEE.

AN AREA OF SCATTERED SHOWERS AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED
OVER SOUTHEAST KENTUCKY AND EAST TENNESSEE.

THESE THEUNDERSTORMS WILL LIKELY PRODUCE STRONG GUSTY WINDS...
DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...SMALL HAIL AND VERY HEAVY RAINFALL. FLOODING
OF ROADS AND LOW LYING AREA ARE POSSIBLE WITH THE PASSAGE OF THESE
STORMS.

THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TO THE EAST AT 40 MILES AN HOUR.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 1, 2:40 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXClaiborne, Grainger65 min
May 1, 3:25 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXGreene, Hawkins65 min
May 1, 4:37 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXUnicoi, Washington53 min
May 1, 5:06 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXMonroe39 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Tennessee, 1990Every severe thunderstorm 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.