Alert archive / Tennessee / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Morristown, TN

March 16, 1996Scott County, Tennessee

NWS Morristown, TN issued this tornado warning at Mar 16, 1996, 5:44 PM EST for Scott County, Tennessee. It was in force for 61 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
Mar 16, 1996, 5:44 PM EST (22:44 UTC)
Expired
Mar 16, 1996, 6:45 PM EST
In force
61 min
Issued by
NWS Morristown, TN
Area
Whole counties

County Scott County, TN

The radar

The Knoxville radar (KMRX), 103 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:48 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.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Mar 16, 6:15 PM ESTTornado F0Oneida, TN

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.

The nearest sounding before it

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 12:00Z, 10.7 hours before the alert went out and 191 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 1996-03-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 1996-03-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 224 square meters per square second.1939587897117136Sfc1 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
1365 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
70 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
224 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
286 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 162244
TORMRX
TNC151-162345-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KNOXVILLE TRI CITIES TN
544 PM EST (444 PM CST) SAT MAR 16 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN KNOXVILLE TRI CITIES HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  645 PM EST (545 PM CST)
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN EAST TENNESSEE
 
   ...SCOTT COUNTY
 
AT 543 PM EST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO OVER
FENTRESS COUNTY MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH. THIS STORM WILL MOVE INTO SCOTT
COUNTY BY 550 PM EST. THE STORM WILL MOVE ACROSS ONEIDA BY 615 PM EST.
THIS STORM HAS A HISTORY OF PRODUCING LARGE HAIL.
 
IF YOU LIVE IN A HOME OR APARTMENT...SEEK SHELTER IN THE
INNER
MOST PORTION OF THE BUILDING ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  GET TO
A BASEMENT IF ONE IS AVAILABLE.  AVOID WINDOWS AND PROTECT YOUR
BODY FROM FLYING DEBRIS WITH CUSHIONS...BLANKETS...OR PILLOWS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 16, 5:10 PM ESTTornado WarningMRXFentress65 min
Mar 16, 6:07 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXCampbell68 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Tennessee, 1996Every tornado warning in 1996Tornadoes 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.