Alert archive / Tennessee / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 16, NWS Memphis, TN

March 2, 1997McNairy County, Tennessee

NWS Memphis, TN issued this flash flood warning at Mar 2, 1997, 2:11 AM CST for McNairy County, Tennessee. It was in force for 119 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 2, 1997, 2:11 AM CST (08:11 UTC)
Expired
Mar 2, 1997, 4:10 AM CST
In force
119 min
Issued by
NWS Memphis, TN
Area
Whole counties

County McNairy County, TN

The radar

The Memphis radar (KNQA), 120 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 08:14 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, 8.2 hours before the alert went out and 132 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 020811
FFWMEM
TNC109-021010-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
211 AM CST SUN MAR 2 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS TN HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 410 AM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN WESTERN TENNESSEE

   ...MCNAIRY COUNTY
 
AT 210 AM...HEAVY RAIN CONTINUED ACROSS MUCH OF MCNAIRY COUNTY. DUE
TO PREVIOUSLY SATURATED GROUND..AREAS OF FLOODING WERE BEING
REPORTED IN  NORTHERN AND CENTRAL PORTIONS OF THE COUNTY. AN
ADDITIONAL INCH OF RAIN CAN BE EXPECTED THROUGH 4 AM..WHICH WILL
AGGRAVATE THE FLOODING PROBLEM.

DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE
ROADWAY. THE WATEFR 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.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Mar 2, 1:15 AM CST, 56 minutes before
TNZ003>010-019>031-048>060-062-088>094-020820-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
115 AM CST SUN MAR 2 1997

...TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 81 CANCELLED FOR PORTIONS OF WEST
TENNESSEE...

TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 81 HAS BEEN CANCELLED FOR THE FOLLOWING
COUNTIES IN WEST TENNESSEE...
DYER..LAUDERDALE..TIPTON..SHELBY..HAYWOOD..CROCKETT..MADISON..
GIBSON..WEAKLEY..HENRY..CARROLL..BENTON..HOUSTON..STEWART AND
MONTGOMERY.

HOWEVER..THE WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE FOLLOWING COUTIES OF
WEST AND MIDDLE TENNESSEE UNTIL 3 AM...
FAYETTE..HARDEMAN..CHESTER..MCNAIRY..HARDIN..HENDERSON..DECATUR..
PERRY..WAYNE..LAWRENCE..LEWIS..MAURY..HICKMAN..HUMPHREYS..DICKSON..
WILLIAMSON..CHEATHAM..DAVIDSON..ROBERTSON..SUMNER..MACON..TROUSDALE..
RUTHERFORD..WILSON..SMITH..JACKSON AND CLAY.

A BAND OF STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUES ACROSS THE
TENNESSEE RIVER VALLEY WITH THE THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER DIMINISHING
ACROSS NORTHWEST TENNESSEE.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...RADIO OR TELEVISION FOR THE
LATEST UPDATES CONCERNING THIS DEVELOPING WEATHER SITUATION.

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, 10:03 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningMEGShelby4 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

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Tennessee, 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.