Alert archive / Tennessee / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 65, NWS Memphis, TN

March 1, 1997Tipton County, Tennessee

NWS Memphis, TN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 1, 1997, 8:48 PM CST for Tipton County, Tennessee. It was in force for 32 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 1, 1997, 8:48 PM CST (02:48 UTC)
Expired
Mar 1, 1997, 9:20 PM CST
In force
32 min
Issued by
NWS Memphis, TN
Area
Whole counties

County Tipton County, TN

The radar

The Memphis radar (KNQA), 20 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:51 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 1, 8:50 PM CSTThunderstorm WindMunford, 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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Mar 1, 2:30 PM CSTTornado WatchSPC7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 00:00Z, 2.8 hours before the alert went out and 76 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 020249 RRA
SVRMEM
TNC167-020320-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
848 PM CST SAT MAR 1 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS TN HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 920 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN WESTERN TENNESSEE

   ...TIPTON COUNTY
 
AT 841 PM CST...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM NEAR
MILLINGTON MOVING NORTHEAST AT 50 MILES AN HOUR. THIS STORM WILL
PASS NEAR MUNFORD..BRIGHTON..AND COVINGTON BY 915 PM. DAMAGING WINDS
WILL ACCOMPANY THIS STORM.

.A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THE WARNED AREA.
REMEMBER...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE
TORNADOES WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING. REMAIN CALM BUT BE
ALERT TO RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS.

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, 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
Mar 2, 2:11 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningMEGMcNairy119 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Tennessee, 1997Every severe thunderstorm 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.