Alert archive / Tennessee / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 21, NWS Memphis, TN

March 28, 1997McNairy County, Tennessee

NWS Memphis, TN issued this tornado warning at Mar 28, 1997, 7:05 PM CST for McNairy County, Tennessee. It was in force for 35 min. 2 reports 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 28, 1997, 7:05 PM CST (01:05 UTC)
Expired: Mar 28, 1997, 7:40 PM CST
In force: 35 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 01:06 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

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Mar 28, 7:05 PM CST	Tornado F0	Bethel Spgs, TN
Mar 28, 7:15 PM CST	Hail 1	Finger, 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.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Mar 28, 5:30 PM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 00:00Z, 1.1 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 2379 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 54 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 73 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 183 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.

849 
WFUS1 KMEM 290105 RRA
TORMEM
TNC109-290140-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
705 PM CST FRI MAR 28 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS TN HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 740 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN WESTERN TENNESSEE

   ...NORTHERN MCNAIRY COUNTY
 
AT 703 PM..DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO LOCATED SOUTH
OF MCNAIRY ALONG HIGHWAY 45 MOVING EAST-NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH. THIS
STORM WILL MOVE ACROSS NORTHERN MCNAIRY COUNTY AND WILL PASS NEAR
LEAPWOOD BY 725 PM.

.IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT. GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO
BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SAFETY IN AN INTERIOR ROOM SUCH AS A
CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...OR CUSHIONS TO
COVER YOUR BODY. AVOID WINDOWS.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 28, 6:09 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Madison	46 min
Mar 28, 6:12 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Fayette, Hardeman	33 min
Mar 28, 6:18 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Carroll, Henry	32 min
Mar 28, 6:47 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Chester, McNairy	48 min
Mar 28, 7:18 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Hardeman, McNairy	47 min
Mar 28, 7:27 PM CST	Tornado Warning	MEG	Hardin	33 min
Mar 28, 7:41 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	McNairy	34 min
Mar 28, 8:07 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Hardin	33 min
Mar 28, 8:17 PM CST	Tornado Warning	MEG	Hardin	33 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Tennessee, 1997 Every tornado warning in 1997 Tornadoes 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.