Alert archive / Tennessee / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 11, NWS Memphis, TN

March 1, 1997Shelby County, Tennessee; DeSoto County, Mississippi; Crittenden County, Arkansas

NWS Memphis, TN issued this flash flood warning at Mar 1, 1997, 10:03 PM CST for Shelby County, Tennessee; DeSoto County, Mississippi; Crittenden County, Arkansas. 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 1, 1997, 10:03 PM CST (04:03 UTC)
Expired
Mar 2, 1997, 2:05 AM CST
In force
4 hr
Issued by
NWS Memphis, TN
Area
Whole counties

Counties Crittenden County, AR, DeSoto County, MS, Shelby County, TN

The radar

The Memphis radar (KNQA), 33 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:03 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

Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 00:00Z, 4.1 hours before the alert went out and 31 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, Little Rock, AR at 00:00Z on 1997-03-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 491 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, Little Rock, AR at 00:00Z on 1997-03-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -47 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
491 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-31 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
602 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
69 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-47 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
90 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
0.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMEM 020402
FFWMEM
ARC035-MSC033-137-143-TNC157-020805-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
1003 PM CST SAT MAR 1 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS TN HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 205 AM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN NORTHEASTERN ARKANSAS

   ...CRITTENDEN COUNTY

IN NORTHWESTERN MISSISSIPPI

   ...DE SOTO COUNTY
   ...TATE COUNTY
   ...TUNICA COUNTY

IN WESTERN TENNESSEE

   ...SHELBY COUNTY
 
ANOTHER ROUND OF THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN IS HEADED FOR THE
AREAS SURROUNDING THE JUNCTION OF MISSISSIPPI .. ARKANSAS .. AND
TENNESSEE.  UPWARDS OF THREE INCHES OF RAIN HAS FALLEN ON THE AREA
ALREADY AND WE CAN LOOK FOR ONE TO TWO MORE INCHES OF RAIN AS THE
NEW STORMS MOVE THROUGH.

SMALL STREAMS AND DRAINAGES ARE ALREADY SWOLLEN AND STREET/ROADS
HAVE HAD WATER ACCUMULATE ON THEM AS WELL.  THE ADDITIONAL RAIN WILL
MAKE THE FLOOD PROBLEM EVEN WORSE.  THE RAIN WILL TAPER OFF ACROSS
THE WARNED AREA BY ABOUT 200 AM BUT FLOODING WILL BE SLOW TO SUBSIDE
AS THE RAINWATER WORKS ITS WAY INTO DRAINAGES.

.FLOODING IS PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS AT NIGHT...WHEN IT IS HARDER TO
RECOGNIZE THE DANGER0S OF FLASH FLOODING. IF FLOODING IS
OBSERVED...ACT QUICKLY. MOVE UP TO ESCAPE FLOOD WATERS. DO NOT STAY
IN AREAS SUBJECT TO FLOODING WHEN WATER BEGINS RISING.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 1, 7:01 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGDyer44 min
Mar 1, 7:10 PM CSTTornado WarningMEGDyer35 min
Mar 1, 7:26 PM CSTTornado WarningMEGGibson34 min
Mar 1, 7:40 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGWeakley35 min
Mar 1, 8:04 PM CSTTornado WarningMEGHenry, Weakley51 min
Mar 1, 8:16 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningMEGDyer, Gibson, Obion, Weakley5 hr
Mar 1, 8:41 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGShelby34 min
Mar 1, 8:48 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGTipton32 min
Mar 1, 9:05 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGHaywood45 min
Mar 1, 9:17 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningMEGFayette, Haywood, Shelby, Tipton3 hr
Mar 1, 10:36 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningMEGChester, Hardeman, Madison4 hr
Mar 1, 10:36 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningMEGCarroll, Henderson4 hr
Mar 1, 10:47 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGFayette33 min
Mar 1, 11:30 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGChester, Hardeman35 min
Mar 2, 12:27 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningMEGFayette2 hr
Mar 2, 12:56 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGChester, McNairy34 min
Mar 2, 2:11 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningMEGMcNairy119 min
Mar 1, 10:03 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningMEGTate, Tunica4 hr
Mar 1, 6:11 PM CSTTornado WarningMEGMississippi49 min
Mar 1, 7:24 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningMEGMississippi4 hr
Mar 1, 7:42 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningMEGCross, Poinsett4 hr
Mar 1, 7:48 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningMEGCraighead4 hr
Mar 1, 9:28 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGPhillips32 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Tennessee, 1997Flash Flood Warnings in Mississippi, 1997Flash Flood Warnings in Arkansas, 1997Every flash flood warning in 1997

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.