Alert archive / Tennessee / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1995

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 113, NWS Memphis, TN

May 18, 1995Fayette County, Tennessee

NWS Memphis, TN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 18, 1995, 3:43 AM CDT for Fayette County, Tennessee. It was in force for 47 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 18, 1995, 3:43 AM CDT (08:43 UTC)
Expired
May 18, 1995, 4:30 AM CDT
In force
47 min
Issued by
NWS Memphis, TN
Area
Whole counties

County Fayette County, TN

The nearest sounding before it

Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 00:00Z, 8.7 hours before the alert went out and 64 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 00:00Z on 1995-05-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1195 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, Little Rock, AR at 00:00Z on 1995-05-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 266 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
1195 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-28 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
824 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
54 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
266 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
361 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
2.6
Supercell composite
12.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMEM 180843
SVRMEM
TNC047-180930-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
343 AM CDT THU MAY 18 1995
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  430 AM CDT
FOR PERSONS IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS......
 
IN WEST TENNESSEE
 
   ...FAYETTE COUNTY
 
AT 343 AM CDT...DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
MOVING INTO WESTERN FAYETTE COUNTY BETWEEN GALLAWAY AND COLLIERVILLE.
THE STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 45 MILES AN HOUR...AND WILL BE IN THE
SOMERVILLE AND MOSCOW AREAS BETWEEN 4 AM AND 415 AM. HAIL AND DAMAGING
WINDS ARE POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM.
 
 
 
A TORNADO WATCH IZS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THE WARNED AREA.  REMEMBER
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES
WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING.  REMAIN CALM BUT BE ALERT TO
RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS.

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 18, 1:32 AM CDT, 2 hours 11 minutes before
ARZ009-MOZ113-TNZ001>007-019>026-180830-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
130 AM CDT THU MAY 18 1995

...TORNADO WATCH FOR THE NORTHWEST CORNER OF TENNESSEE UNTIL 7 AM...
...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR CLAY COUNTY ARKANSAS AND DUNKLIN
COUNTY MISSOURI HAS EXPIRED...

A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 AM CDT FOR THE NORTHWEST
CORNER OF TENNESSEE. A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS AHEAD OF AN
APPROACHING COLD FRONT WILL BE MOVING ACROSS THIS AREA DURING THE
NEXT FEW HOURS. SOME OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS MAY BE SEVERE AND HAVE THE
POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE TORNADOES.

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS THAT TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE IN
AND NEAR THE WATCH AREA.  LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS MAY ALSO
OCCUR.  BE READY TO MOVE TO SHELTER IF A WARNING IS ISSUED FOR YOUR
AREA.

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR CLAY COUNTY ARKANSAS AND DUNKLIN
COUNTY MISSOURI HAS EXPIRED. TREES WERE REPORTED DOWN WITH POWER
OUTAGES IN THE TOWN OF KNOBLE IN CLAY COUNTY BETWEEN 1230 AND 1 AM.

RES

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 18, 2:19 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGShelby41 min
May 18, 3:32 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGCrockett, Gibson28 min
May 18, 3:32 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGHaywood28 min
May 18, 9:11 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGCarroll, Madison49 min
May 18, 9:38 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGDyer, Lauderdale52 min
May 18, 1:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGFayette, Hardeman30 min
May 18, 1:40 PM CDTTornado WarningMEGHardeman35 min
May 18, 1:45 PM CDTTornado WarningMEGFayette30 min
May 18, 1:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGLake40 min
May 18, 1:56 PM CDTTornado WarningMEGChester, McNairy34 min
May 18, 2:04 PM CDTTornado WarningMEGLake, Obion26 min
May 18, 2:29 PM CDTTornado WarningMEGChester, Hardin, McNairy31 min
May 18, 2:34 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGDecatur, Henderson26 min
May 18, 2:46 PM CDTTornado WarningMEGDecatur, Hardin29 min
May 18, 2:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGObion31 min
May 18, 3:21 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGWeakley39 min
May 18, 3:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGHardin, McNairy43 min
May 18, 4:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGHenry41 min
May 18, 4:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGBenton32 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Tennessee, 1995Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1995

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.