Alert archive / Tennessee / Tornado Warnings in 1995
Tornado Warning 3, NWS Morristown, TN
NWS Morristown, TN issued this tornado warning at May 18, 1995, 5:54 PM CDT for Cumberland County, Tennessee. It was in force for 66 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.
The facts
- Issued
- May 18, 1995, 5:54 PM CDT (22:54 UTC)
- Expired
- May 18, 1995, 7:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 66 min
- Issued by
- NWS Morristown, TN
- Area
- Whole counties
County Cumberland County, TN
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 18, 6:21 PM CDT | Tornado F3 | Newton To, TN | The tornado first touched down in the southwest part of Cumberland County and moved northeast. Two business were destroyed. Eleven homes and 14 mobiles homes were destroyed. Many other homes were damaged. One house had a gas leak in it prompting emergency |
NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in. Storm Data before 1996 records only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail.
The nearest sounding before it
Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 12:00Z, 10.9 hours before the alert went out and 145 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1151 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -3 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 674 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 59 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 178 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 189 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 1.3
- Supercell composite
- 4.9
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KTYS 182254 TORTYS TNC035-190000- BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KNOXVILLE TN 654 PM EDT (554 PM CDT) THU MAY 18 1995 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN KNOXVILLE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 800 PM EDT (700 PM CDT) FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN EAST CENTRAL TENNESSEE ...CUMBERLAND COUNTY AT 550 PM CDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED A TORNADO OVER WHITE COUNTY THAT WILL BE MOVING INTO WESTERN CUMBERLAND COUNTY WITHIN THE NEXT 15 MINUTES OR SO. THIS TORNADO WAS MOVING EAST-NORTHEAST AT 35 TO 40 MPH. THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION. ACT QUICKLY. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHEL TER BELOW GROUND IF AVAILABLE. OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR POSSIBLE. AVOID WINDOWS. ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT. NNNN
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, May 18, 12:10 PM CDT, 5 hours 44 minutes before
TNZ015>018-042>047-VAZ001-002-005-006-008-181915- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KNOXVILLE/TRI-CITIES TN 108 PM EDT THU MAY 18 1995 ...THE TORNADO WATCH FOR SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA HAS BEEN CANCELLED... THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS CANCELLED THE TORNADO WATCH ISSUED EARLIER FOR SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA. THE THREAT FOR SEVERE WEATHER ESPECIALLY TORNADOES HAS ENDED. HOWEVER...ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT IS EXPECTED THROUGHOUT THE AFTERNOON AS THE ATMOSPHERE CONTINUES TO DESTABILIZE. SOME OF THESE STORMS MAY BECOME RATHER STRONG WITH THE MAIN THREAT FROM DAMAGING WINDS. AT 106 PM RADAR DETECTED WIDELY SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA AND NORTHEAST TN. THE STRONGEST STORM WAS LOCATED JUST TO THE SOUTH OF KINGSPORT. ALL OF THIS ACTIVITY WAS MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH.
Special weather statement, May 18, 12:25 PM CDT, 5 hours 29 minutes before
TNZ011-012-013-034-035-066-181830- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KNOXVILLE TN 125 PM EDT (1225 PM CDT) THU MAY 18 1995 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR THE PLATEAU UNTIL 1 PM CDT/ 2PM EDT... ...A FLASH FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT FOR NORTHERN PORTIONS OF THE PLATEAU THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING... AT 1220 PM CDT/ 120 PM EDT WEATHER SERVICE RADAR DETECTED NO SIGNIFICANT PRECIPITATION IN MIDDLE EAST TENNESSEE. HOWEVER CONDITIONS ARE QUITE FAVORABLE FOR THE FORMATION OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. RESIDENTS OF EAST TENNESSEE BE ALERT FOR RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO..LOCAL RADIO OR TV FOR THE LASBTEST WEATHER INFORMATION. JW NNNN
Special weather statement, May 18, 3:19 PM CDT, 2 hours 35 minutes before
TNZ011-012-034-182045- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KNOXVILLE TN 419 PM EDT (319 PM CDT) THU MAY 18 1995 ...A TORNADO WATCH FOR PICKETT COUNTY UNTIL 10 PM CDT... AT 310 PM CD
Special weather statement, May 18, 3:23 PM CDT, 2 hours 31 minutes before
VAZ001-002-005-006-008-182115- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TRI-CITIES TN ISSUED BY MORRISTOWN TN 422 PM EDT THU MAY 18 1995 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE MOVING FROM SOUTHEAST KY TOWARD SOUTHWEST VA... THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1000 PM EDT. THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES ARE INCLUDED IN THE WATCH: LEE...WISE...SCOTT...RUSSELL AND WASHINGTON. THIS WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN OR NEAR THE WATCH AREA. THE MAIN THREAT FROM THESE STORMS WILL BE FROM DAMAGING WINDS AND HAIL. HOWEVER ISOLATED TORNADOES ARE ALSO POSSIBLE IN THE WATCH AREA AS SOME OF THESE STORMS HAVE HAD A HISTORY OF PRODUCING TORNADOES WHEN THEY WERE LOCATED OVER MIDDLE TN EARLIER THIS AFTERNOON. AT 418 PM EDT DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED SEVERAL SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS SOUTHEAST KENTUCKY. THESE STORMS WERE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 45 TO 50 MPH. THESE STORMS WILL BEGIN AFFECTING SOUTHWEST VIRIGINIA WITHIN THE NEXT HOUR. PERSONS IN THE WATCH AREA SHOULD KEEP ALERT TO YOUR NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADIO FOR FURTHER STATEMENTS OR POSSIBLE WARNINGS.
Special weather statement, May 18, 4:17 PM CDT, 1 hour 37 minutes before
VAZ001-002-005-006-008-182115- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TRI-CITIES TN ISSUED BY MORRISTOWN TN 516 PM EDT THU MAY 18 1995 ...A TORNADIC THUNDERSTORM IS OCCURRING OVER SOUTHERN LESLIE COUNTY KY... AT 510 PM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR IN MORRISTOWN DETECTED A TORNADIC THUNDERSTORM OVER SOUTHERN LESLIE COUNTY. THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM AND WILL MOST LIKELY AFFECT NORTHERN SECTIONS OF WISE COUNTY VIRGINIA BY 600 PM EDT. PERSONS IN WISE COUNTY SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS AS THIS STORM APPROACHES. BE PREPARED TO SEEK TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY IF A TORNADO IS OBSERVED OR A WARNING IS ISSUED. ALSO THERE IS A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA UNTIL 1000 PM EDT. THIS WATCH INCLUDES LEE...WISE...RUSSELL...SCOTT AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES. REMEMBER SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES. MPH. THESE STORMS WILL BEGIN AFFzECTING SOUTHWEST VIRIGINIA WITHIN THE NEXT HOUR. PERSONS IN THE WATCH AREA SHOULD KEEP ALERT TO YOUR NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADIO FOR FURTHER STATEMENTS OR POSSIBLE WARNINGS.
Special weather statement, May 18, 4:50 PM CDT, 1 hour 4 minutes before
TNZ011-012-013-014-034-035-036-037-038-039-040-041-066-067-068- 069-070-071-072-073-074-086-087-182245- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KNOXVILLE TN 550 PM EDT (450 PM CDT) THU MAY 18 1995 ...TORNADO WATCH FOR EAST TENNESSEE UNTIL MIDNIGHT EDT... AT 540 PM EDT WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED A FEW SHOWERS OVER THE NORTH PART OF THE CUMBERLAND PLATEAU...HOWEVER...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND SEVERAL TORNADOES HAVE OCCURRED OVER MIDDLE AND WEST TENNESSEE DURING THE DAY. THE SHOWERS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH. IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A PLAN OF ACTION TO TAKE IN THE EVENT OF TORNADOES OR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS HERE ARE A FEW SUGGESTIONS...STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS..SEEK SHELTER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS.. GET UNDER A BED OR TABLE IF POSSIBLE..ABANDON MOBILE HOMES...AND TRY TO REMAIN CALM FOR CLEARER THINKING. WATCH THE SKY FOR THREATENING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND SEEK SHELTER IN A STURDY BUILDING. CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE WEATHER ON NOAA WEATHER RADIO..OR YOUR FAVORITE RADIO OR TV STATION. LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS. WS NNNN
The office that day
Everything else NWS Morristown, TN issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 18, 6:19 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MRX | Morgan | 41 min |
| May 18, 6:45 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MRX | Morgan | 30 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Tennessee, 1995Every tornado warning in 1995Tornadoes 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.