Alert archive / Tennessee / Flash Flood Warnings in 1996

Flash Flood Warning 13, NWS Morristown, TN

March 15, 1996Johnson County, Sullivan County, Tennessee

NWS Morristown, TN issued this flash flood warning at Mar 15, 1996, 2:49 PM EST for Johnson County, Sullivan County, Tennessee. It was in force for 4 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Mar 15, 1996, 2:49 PM EST (19:49 UTC)
Expired
Mar 15, 1996, 6:45 PM EST
In force
4 hr
Issued by
NWS Morristown, TN
Area
Whole counties

Counties Johnson County, TN, Sullivan County, TN

The radar

The Knoxville radar (KMRX), 124 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:52 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

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 7.8 hours before the alert went out and 200 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 1996-03-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 8 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 1996-03-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 83 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
8 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-357 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1388 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
50 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
83 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
108 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 KMRX 151949
FFWMRX
TNC067-073-091-163-152345-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KNOXVILLE TRI CITIES TN
249 PM EST FRI MAR 15 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN KNOXVILLE TRI CITIES HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  645 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN EAST TENNESSEE
 
   ...NORTHERN HANCOCK COUNTY...NORTHERN HAWKINS COUNTY
   ...JOHNSON COUNTY...SULLIVAN COUNTY
 
THUNDERSTORMS ALONG THE TENNESSEE VIRGINIA BORDER HAVE BEEN DROPPING
LARGE AMOUNTS OF RAIN FOR THE PAST SEVERAL HOURS. RAINFALL IN EXCESS OF
AN INCH AND A HALF PER HOUR HAS FALLEN WITH TOTAL RAINS OVER 2 INCHES
IN SOME AREAS. THIS RAINFALL IS ENOUGH TO CAUSE DITCHES TO OVERFLOW AND
SMALL CREEKS AND STREAMS TO RISE OUT OF THEIR BANKS.
 
DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE
ROADWAY.  THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOUR CAR TO
CROSS SAFELY.  VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE
ABANDONED QUICKLY.  MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.

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.

NWS Morristown, TN wrote its last area forecast discussion before this flash flood warning went out at Mar 15, 10:23 AM EST, 4 hours 26 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 15, 10:23 AM EST, 4 hours 26 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KNOXVILLE/TRI-CITIES TN
1015AM EST FRI MAR 15 1996

SOME EARLY MORNING STORMS ARE CURRENTLY EXITING THE REGION...HOWEVER
THE SECOND VERSE IS FIXING TO BE SUNG.  THUNDERSTORMS ALONG THE PLATEAU
ARE MOVING EASTWARD AT AROUND 30 MILES AN HOUR.  SW VIRGINIA WILL LIKELY
ESCAPE THE WORST OF THE STORMS ALONG WITH NORTHEAST TENNESSEE.  FROM THE
CENTRAL VALLEY SOUTHWARD HOWEVER IS VULNERABLE TO STRONG STORMS.  VIEWING
A MODIFIED BNA SOUNDING GIVES A FAIRLY STRONG WIND POTENTIAL ALONG WITH
A HAIL POTENTIAL.  500 MB TEMPS OF -18 GIVE A VERY LOW VIL DE JURE.

LOOKING FORWARD THERE  IS A GOOD CHANCE THE PRECIP WILL CLEAR THE AREA
BY TONIGHT AND POPS COULD BE LOWERED OVER MOST OF THE REGION.  TEMPS AND
SATURDAY LOOK OK.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Mar 15, 12:36 PM EST, 2 hours 13 minutes before
TNZ083>087-099>102-151930-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KNOXVILLE/TRI-CITIES TN
1236 PM EST FRI MAR 15 1996

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH CANCELLED FOR SOUTHEAST TENNESSEE...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS CLEARED A PART OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
WATCH NUMBER 84 ISSUED THIS MORNING.  THE WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT
FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN SOUTHEAST TENNESSEE.

POLK...BRADLEY...HAMILTON...MONROE...MCMINN...RHEA AND MEIGS...

STAY TUNED TO THIS STATION FOR THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION.
Special weather statement, Mar 15, 12:39 PM EST, 2 hours 10 minutes before
TNZ083>087-099>102-151930-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KNOXVILLE/TRI-CITIES TN
1236 PM EST FRI MAR 15 1996

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH CANCELLED FOR SOUTHEAST TENNESSEE...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS CLEARED A PART OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
WATCH NUMBER 84 ISSUED THIS MORNING.  THE WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT
FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN SOUTHEAST TENNESSEE.

POLK...BRADLEY...HAMILTON...MONROE...MCMINN...RHEA AND MEIGS...

STAY TUNED TO THIS STATION FOR THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 15, 11:21 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXMonroe54 min
Mar 15, 2:49 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningMRXHancock, Hawkins4 hr
Mar 15, 3:28 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXLoudon32 min
Mar 15, 4:29 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXCocke61 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Tennessee, 1996Every flash flood warning in 1996

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.