Alert archive / Tennessee / Tornado Warnings in 1994

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Morristown, TN

April 15, 1994Monroe County, Tennessee

NWS Morristown, TN issued this tornado warning at Apr 15, 1994, 12:52 PM EDT for Monroe County, Tennessee. It was in force for 68 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Apr 15, 1994, 12:52 PM EDT (16:52 UTC)
Expired
Apr 15, 1994, 2:00 PM EDT
In force
68 min
Issued by
NWS Morristown, TN
Area
Whole counties

County Monroe County, TN

The nearest sounding before it

Athens Municipal, GA (KAHN), launched 12:00Z, 4.9 hours before the alert went out and 187 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, Athens Municipal, GA at 12:00Z on 1994-04-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1511 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, Athens Municipal, GA at 12:00Z on 1994-04-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 170 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
1511 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-28 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
645 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
170 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
201 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
4.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KTYS 151651
TORTYS
TNC123-151800-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KNOXVILLE TN
1252 PM EDT FRI APR 15 1994
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN KNOXVILLE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  200 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN EAST CENTRAL TENNESSEE
 
   ...MONROE COUNTY
 
AT 1150 AM EDT A TORNADO WAS IN EASTERN MCMINN COUNTY MOVING INTO
MONROE COUNTY NEAR THE COMMUNITY OF GUDGER. THE THUNDERSTORM IS
MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH. THE CITY OF MADISONVILLE IS IN
THE PATH OF THIS TORNADIC THUNDERSTORM.
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.

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 15, 9:25 AM EDT, 3 hours 27 minutes before
TNZ082-079-098-081-080-151530-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHATTANOOGA TN
921 AM EDT (821 AM CDT) FRI APR 15 1994

...TORNADO WATCH FOR PARTS OF EAST TENNESSEE AND NORTH ALABAMA
UNTIL 300 PM CDT...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH FOR PARTS
OF EAST TENNESSEE AND NORTH ALABAMA UNTIL 300 PM CDT TODAY.

THE WATCH INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES:

IN SOUTHEAST TENNESSEE...
BLEDSOE...GRUNDY...MARION...SEQUATCHIE AND VAN BUREN.

IN NORTHEAST ALABAMA...JACKSON AND DE KALB.

THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE TO FORM IN ADVANCE OF A COLD FRONT THAT IS
MOVING INTO THE NORTHWEST PART OF TENNESSEE AND SOME OF THESE
THUNDERSTORMS COULD PRODUCE TORNADOES...HIGH WINDS...LARGE HAIL
AND HEAVY RAIN.

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE IN AND CLOSE
TO THE WATCH AREA.

PERSONS IN THE TRI STATE AREA SHOULD KEEP IN TOUCH WITH NOAA WEATHER
RADIO OR THERE LOCAL TV AND RADIO STATIONS FOR LATER STATEMENTS
OR WARNINGS.
Special weather statement, Apr 15, 9:41 AM EDT, 3 hours 11 minutes before
TNZ011-066-151545-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KNOXVILLE TN
942 AM EDT (842 AM CDT) FRI APR 15 1994

...TORNADO WATCH FOR MIDDLE EAST TENNESSEE...UNTIL 3PM EDT...

THE TORNADO @WATCH INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
FENTRESS...AND CUMBERLAND.

REMEMBER A TORNADO WATCH MEANS TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE IN AND CLOSE
TO THE WATCH AREA.
Special weather statement, Apr 15, 12:44 PM EDT, 8 minutes before
TNZ015>018-042>047-VAZ001>009-102300-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE BRISTOL TENNESSEE
1225 PM EDT FRI APR 15 1994

...A TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT FOR EXTREME SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA
UNTIL 700 PM EDT...

CONDITIONS ARE BECOME MORE INCLINED TO PRODUCE SEVERE WEATHER
OVER THE MOUNTAIN EMPIRE DURING THE AFTERNOON HOURS OF THIS
LAST WORKDAY OF THE WEEK.  REPORTS HAVE ALREADY BEEN RECEIVED
OF TORNADOES THAT HAD TOUCHDOWNED IN MIDDLE AND SOUTHEAST
TENNESSEE DURING THE PAST HOUR.

AT 1225 PM TRI CITIES WEATHER RADAR INDICATED PRECIPITATION
MOVING INTO NORTHEAST TENNESSEE FROM THE SOUTHWEST.  THIS
AREA OF THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD BEGIN TO MOVE ACROSS THE GREATER
TRI CITES AREA DURING THE HOUR.
A TORNADO WATCH IS MEANT TO ALERT YOU TO THE POSSIBLITY OF
A TORNADO IN THE WATCH AREA.  A TORNADO WATCH WOULD INCLUDE
THE POSSIBILTY OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AS WELL.

OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES SHOULD BE CURTAILED AND YARD FURNITURE
SHOULD BE SECURED.

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Tennessee, 1994Every tornado warning in 1994Tornadoes in 1994

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.