Alert archive / Tennessee / Flash Flood Warnings in 1995

Flash Flood Warning 1, NWS Morristown, TN

May 13, 1995Campbell County, Union County, Tennessee

NWS Morristown, TN issued this flash flood warning at May 13, 1995, 4:41 PM EDT for Campbell County, Union County, Tennessee. It was in force for 2 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 13, 1995, 4:41 PM EDT (20:41 UTC)
Expired
May 13, 1995, 6:45 PM EDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS Morristown, TN
Area
Whole counties

Counties Campbell County, TN, Union County, TN

The radar

The Knoxville radar (KMRX), 57 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:42 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

The nearest sounding before it

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 12:00Z, 8.7 hours before the alert went out and 235 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 12:00Z on 1995-05-13Temperature 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 1995-05-13The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 343 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
874 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
55 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
343 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
359 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KTYS 132041
FFWTYS
TNC013-173-132245-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KNOXVILLE TN
441 PM EDT SAT MAY 13 1995
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN KNOXVILLE HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL  645 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN EAST CENTRAL TENNESSEE
 
   ...CAMPBELL COUNTY...UNION COUNTY
 
IN THE PAST 2 HOURS RAINFALL ESTIMATES FROM IFLOWS AND DOPPLER RADAR
SHOWED THAT FLASH FLOOD GUIDANCE VALUES HAVE BEEN REACHED AND EXCEEDED
IN SOME AREAS OF CAMPBELL AND UNION COUNTIES. A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
WATCH CONTINUES ACROSS THE NORTH PART OF THE CUMBERLAND PLATEAU AND
ALL OF MIDDLE EAST TENNESSEE UNTIL 11PM EDT/10PM CDT.
 
 
A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS OCCURRING OR IS
IMMINENT.  MOST FLASH FLOOD DEATHS 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 SMRALL
ONE...ON FOOT.  TO ESCAPE RISING WATER MOVE UP TO HIGHER GROUND.
 
 
 
NNNN

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, May 13, 12:48 PM EDT, 3 hours 53 minutes before
TTAAVA KTRI 131648
VAZ001-002-110000-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...AND RADAR SUMMARY...
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BRISTOL TN
ISSUED BY KNOXVILLE TRI CITY TN
1238 PM EDT SUN MAY 13 1995

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH TILL 5 PM FOR HANCOCK COUNTY...

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR
HANCOCK COUNTY TILL 5 PM. A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS
ARE FAVORABLE FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA.
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS..LARGE HAIL..GUSTY WINDS AND DANGEROUS LIGHTING
ARE POSSIBLE WITH THESE STORMS.

TRI-CITIES RADAR DETECTED RAINSHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OCCURING IN
SOUTHEAST KENTUCKY AND OVER THE CUMBERLAND PLATEAUOF TENNESSE. AN INTENSE
STORM WAS OCCURRING WEST OF TAZEWELL TENNESSEE.
MOVEMENT OF STORM WAS EAST AT 40 MPH.
Special weather statement, May 13, 1:30 PM EDT, 3 hours 11 minutes before
TTAAVA KTRI 131730
VAZ001-002-110000-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BRISTOL TN
ISSUED BY KNOXVILLE TRI CITY TN
138 PM EDT SUN MAY 13 1995

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH TILL 5 PM FOR HANCOCK COUNTY...

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR
HANCOCK COUNTY TILL 5 PM. A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS
ARE FAVORABLE FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA.
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS..LARGE HAIL..GUSTY WINDS AND DANGEROUS LIGHTING
ARE POSSIBLE WITH THESE STORMS.
Special weather statement, May 13, 4:11 PM EDT, 30 minutes before
TNZ046-047-042-043-015-016-018-017-045-044-VAZ001-006-005-008-002-
132115-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BRISTOL TN
ISSUED BY KNOXVILLE TRI CITY TN
410 PM EDT SAT MAY 13 1995

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 5 PM EDT FOR LEE AND
HANCOCK COUNTIES...

AT 404 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER INDICATED STRONG
THUNDERSTORMS EASTERN CARTER...EASTERN SULLIVAN...WASHINGTON...
AND GREENE COUNTIES OF NORTHEAST TENNESSEE.  THESE STORMS WERE MOVING
EAST AT 40 MILES AN HOUR.  PERSONS IN BRISTOL...JOHNSON CITY...
GREENEVILLE...AND SURROUNDING CITIES CAN EXPECT HEAVY RAIN...
STRONG GUSTY WINDS UP TO 40 MILES AN HOUR...SMALL HAIL...AND
FREQUENT LIGHTNING.

ONE HOUR RAINFALL AMOUNTS BETWEEN ONE-HALF AND ONE INCH ARE EXPECTED
WHICH WILL PRODUCE PONDING ON AREA ROADWAYS AND POSSIBLE LOCALLIZED
FLOODING.  REMEMBER...DO NOT CROSS WATER COVERED ROADWAYS.  THE WATER
DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT FOR SAFE PASSAGE.

A LARGE AREA OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE NOTED ACROSS THE REST
OF NORTHEAST TENNESSEE AND SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA.  THIS AREA OF STORMS
WERE MOVING EAST AT 35 TO 40 MILES AN HOUR.

PLEASE STAY TUNED FOR FURTHER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE ADDITIONAL
WARNINGS.

DH

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 13, 10:20 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXCumberland, Fentress55 min
May 13, 10:20 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXPickett55 min
May 13, 10:52 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXMorgan68 min
May 13, 11:19 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXScott41 min
May 13, 12:06 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXClaiborne, Union69 min
May 13, 12:53 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXCampbell67 min
May 13, 1:04 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXHancock, Hawkins56 min
May 13, 1:33 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXPickett42 min
May 13, 2:17 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXFentress58 min
May 13, 2:43 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXMorgan, Scott47 min
May 13, 2:52 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXCarter53 min
May 13, 3:18 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXCampbell57 min
May 13, 3:56 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXUnion49 min
May 13, 4:19 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXGreene26 min
May 13, 5:41 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXHamblen, Jefferson34 min
May 13, 6:10 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXGreene65 min
May 13, 6:21 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXWashington54 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Tennessee, 1995Every flash flood 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.