Alert archive / Tennessee / Tornado Warnings in 1997
Tornado Warning 31, NWS Memphis, TN
NWS Memphis, TN issued this tornado warning at May 26, 1997, 7:58 PM CDT for Haywood County, Tennessee. It was in force for 32 min. 3 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
- May 26, 1997, 7:58 PM CDT (00:58 UTC)
- Expired
- May 26, 1997, 8:30 PM CDT
- In force
- 32 min
- Issued by
- NWS Memphis, TN
- Area
- Whole counties
County Haywood County, TN
The radar
The Memphis radar (KNQA), 60 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:59 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 26, 8:00 PM CDT | Hail 1.75 | Brownsville, TN | |
| May 26, 8:15 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Brownsville, TN | Several trees were knocked down. |
| May 26, 8:15 PM CDT | Tornado F0 | Brownsville, TN | A tornado briefly touched down producing minimal damage. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 26, 4:00 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 00:00Z, 1.0 hours before the alert went out and 103 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 4008 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -14 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 884 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 30 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 30 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 121 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.8
- Supercell composite
- 4.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
649 WFUS1 KMEM 270059 RRA TORMEM TNC075-270130- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN 758 PM CDT MON MAY 26 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS TN HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 830 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN WESTERN TENNESSEE ...NORTHERN HAYWOOD COUNTY AT 755 PM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO 3 MILES NORTH OF BELLE EAGLE OR JUST SOUTH OF THE CROCKETT COUNTY LINE. THIS STORM IS MOVING SOUTHEAST 25 MPH AND WILL PASS NEAR THE COMMUNITY OF JONES AND HIGHWAY 79 BY 810 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 26, 7:19 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Lauderdale | 46 min |
| May 26, 7:37 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Haywood | 48 min |
| May 26, 8:09 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Madison | 46 min |
| May 26, 8:30 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MEG | Madison | 35 min |
| May 26, 9:02 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Chester | 33 min |
| May 26, 9:04 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Hardeman | 51 min |
| May 26, 9:12 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | McNairy | 48 min |
| May 26, 9:39 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Hardin | 46 min |
| May 27, 3:24 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | MEG | Tipton | 31 min |
| May 27, 3:37 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Shelby | 48 min |
| May 27, 4:12 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Fayette | 33 min |
| May 27, 4:44 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Hardeman | 46 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Tennessee, 1997Every tornado warning in 1997Tornadoes 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.