Alert archive / Tennessee / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 16, NWS Morristown, TN

March 16, 1996Unicoi County, Tennessee

NWS Morristown, TN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 16, 1996, 10:27 PM EST for Unicoi County, Tennessee. It was in force for 33 min. 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 16, 1996, 10:27 PM EST (03:27 UTC)
Expired
Mar 16, 1996, 11:00 PM EST
In force
33 min
Issued by
NWS Morristown, TN
Area
Whole counties

County Unicoi County, TN

The radar

The Knoxville radar (KMRX), 87 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:26 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

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 00:00Z, 3.5 hours before the alert went out and 359 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, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 00:00Z on 1996-03-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 477 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, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 00:00Z on 1996-03-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 270 square meters per square second.1939587897117136156Sfc1 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
477 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-21 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
888 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
76 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
270 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
293 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.9
Supercell composite
4.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

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.

NWS Morristown, TN wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Mar 16, 2:59 PM EST, 7 hours 28 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 16, 2:59 PM EST, 7 hours 28 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KNOXVILLE/TRI-CITIES TN
245 PM EST SAT MAR 16 1996

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER MUCH OF THE FA TODAY WILL CONTINUE INTO
THE EVENING HOURS.  CURRENT WW OVER PLATEAU AND EXTREME WESTERN PORTION
OF THE VALLEY THROUGH 8 PM WILL LIKELY EXTEND EASTWARD INTO THE REMAINDER
OF THE VALLEY TONIGHT AS DYNAMICS SHIFT EASTWARD.  HOPEFULLY MOVING
INTO THE EVENING HOURS WILL TAKE SOME OF THE PUNCH OUT HOWEVER.

CURRENT FORECAST POPS AND TEMPS REASONABLE HOWEVER WORDING MIGHT NEED
REVISING TO CONVEY POSSIBILITY OF SEVERE CONVECTION.

THE GOOD NEWS FOR SUNDAY IS THAT INTENSE DEEP CONVECTION TO SOUTH OF FA
WILL "CUTOFF" THE GULF AND THEREFORE THE BIGGEST THzREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER.
EVEN WITH THIS CUTOFF...SHOWERS AND SOME TSTORMS ARE STILL POSSIBLE.

MONDAY SHOULD SEE THINGS BEGINNING TO QUIET DOWN SOMEWHAT, BUT STILL
A HIGH LIKELYHOOD OF PRECIPITATION.  FWC POPS AND TEMPS LOOK REASONABLE.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Mar 16, 6:48 PM EST, 3 hours 39 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KNOXVILLE/TRI-CITIES TN
640 PM EST SAT MAR 16 1996

TIME(EST)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

545 PM     ALLARDT                   TN   0.75 INCH HAIL
03/16/96   FENTRESS

602 PM     JAMESTOWN                 TN   0.75 INCH HAIL
03/16/96   FENTRESS

545 PM     ALLARDT                   TN   TORNADO
03/16/96   FENTRESS                       ROOF TAKEN OFF STORE AND
                                          HOME DAMAGED.  NUMEROUS
                                          TREES BLOWN DOWN

615 PM     5 E ONEIDA                TN   TORNADO
03/16/96   SCOTT                          TORNADO TOUCHDOWN IN EAST
                                          PART OF COUNTY AND DESTROYED
                                          A TRAILER
Local storm report, Mar 16, 9:48 PM EST, 39 minutes before
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The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 16, 7:26 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXClaiborne, Grainger64 min
Mar 16, 7:37 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXScott68 min
Mar 16, 7:40 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXHancock, Hawkins65 min
Mar 16, 9:01 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXHamblen59 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Tennessee, 1996Every severe thunderstorm 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.