Alert archive / Tennessee / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 26, NWS Morristown, TN

February 21, 1997Cumberland County, Tennessee

NWS Morristown, TN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Feb 21, 1997, 8:38 AM CST for Cumberland County, Tennessee. It was in force for 67 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: Feb 21, 1997, 8:38 AM CST (14:38 UTC)
Expired: Feb 21, 1997, 9:45 AM CST
In force: 67 min
Issued by: NWS Morristown, TN
Area: Whole counties

County Cumberland County, TN

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Feb 21, 9:30 AM CST	Thunderstorm Wind	Countywide, 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
Feb 21, 7:00 AM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 12:00Z, 2.6 hours before the alert went out and 145 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: 133 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -19 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 825 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 52 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 392 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 598 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.3
Supercell composite: 2.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Morristown, TN wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Feb 21, 1:59 AM CST, 6 hours 39 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 21, 1:59 AM CST, 6 hours 39 minutes before

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In the hours before

Special weather statement, Feb 21, 7:35 AM CST, 1 hour 3 minutes before

TNZ012-013-034>036-066>068-083>087-099>102-211800-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KNOXVILLE/TRI-CITIES TN
835 AM EST FRI FEB 21 1997

...TORNADO WATCH FOR WESTERN PARTS OF EAST TENNESSEE UNTIL 1PM EST...

A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR WESTERN MOST COUNTIES OF EAST TENNESSEE
UNTIL 1 PM EST. THE COUNTIES INCLUDED IN THIS TORNADO WATCH ARE...FROM
FENTRESS TO CUMBERLAND...RHEA AND HAMILTON EASTWARD TO CAMPBELL...ANDERSON
LOUDON...MONROE AND POLK COUNTIES

AT MID-MORNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADARS SHOWED A LINE OF
STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS MOVING THROUGH NORTHERN ALABAMA AND
MIDDLE TENNESSEE. THIS LINE OF STORMS WAS MOVING EAST AT AROUND 35 MPH
AND SHOULD REACH PARTS OF FENTRESS...CUMBERLAND...RHEA AND HAMILTON
COUNTIES BY 11 AM EST (10AM CST).

DAMAGING THUNDERSTORM WINDS HAVE ALREADY BEEN REPORTED IN PARTS OF
MIDDLE TENNESSEE...AND CONDITIONS ARE ALSO VERY FAVORABLE FOR THE
DEVELOPMENT OF A FEW TORNADOES.  PERSONS IN THE WATCH AREA SHOULD
REMAIN ALERT AND BE PREPARED TO TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION IF WARNINGS
ARE ISSUED FOR YOUR AREA.  THE TORNADO WATCH MAY NEED TO BE EXTENDED
EASTWARD OVER THE REMAINDER OF EAST TENNESSEE AS WELL AS PARTS OF
SOUTHWESTERN VIRGINIA AND CLAY AND CHEROKEE COUNTIES OF NORTH CAROLINA.

STAY TUNED TO THIS STATION FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS
FROM YOUR NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

TG

Special weather statement, Feb 21, 7:40 AM CST, 58 minutes before

TNZ012-013-034>036-066>068-083>087-099>102-211800-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KNOXVILLE/TRI-CITIES TN
835 AM EST FRI FEB 21 1997

...TORNADO WATCH FOR WESTERN PARTS OF EAST TENNESSEE UNTIL 1PM EST...

A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR WESTERN MOST COUNTIES OF EAST TENNESSEE
UNTIL 1 PM EST. THE COUNTIES INCLUDED IN THIS TORNADO WATCH ARE...FROM
FENTRESS TO CUMBERLAND...RHEA AND HAMILTON EASTWARD TO CAMPBELL...ANDERSON
LOUDON...MONROE AND POLK COUNTIES

AT MID-MORNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADARS SHOWED A LINE OF
STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS MOVING THROUGH NORTHERN ALABAMA AND
MIDDLE TENNESSEE. THIS LINE OF STORMS WAS MOVING EAST AT AROUND 35 MPH
AND SHOULD REACH PARTS OF FENTRESS...CUMBERLAND...RHEA AND HAMILTON
COUNTIES BY 11 AM EST (10AM CST).

DAMAGING THUNDERSTORM WINDS HAVE ALREADY BEEN REPORTED IN PARTS OF
MIDDLE TENNESSEE...AND CONDITIONS ARE ALSO VERY FAVORABLE FOR THE
DEVELOPMENT OF A FEW TORNADOES.  PERSONS IN THE WATCH AREA SHOULD
REMAIN ALERT AND BE PREPARED TO TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION IF WARNINGS
ARE ISSUED FOR YOUR AREA.  THE TORNADO WATCH MAY NEED TO BE EXTENDED
EASTWARD OVER THE REMAINDER OF EAST TENNESSEE AS WELL AS PARTS >OF
SOUTHWESTERN VIRGINIA AND CLAY AND CHEROKEE COUNTIES OF NORTH CAROLINA.

STAY TUNED TO THIS STATION FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS
FROM YOUR NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

TG

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Feb 21, 9:23 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MRX	Fentress, Morgan	67 min
Feb 21, 9:26 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MRX	Rhea	64 min
Feb 21, 9:57 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MRX	Scott	63 min
Feb 21, 10:03 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MRX	Anderson, Campbell	57 min
Feb 21, 10:11 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MRX	Meigs, Roane	34 min
Feb 21, 10:27 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MRX	Claiborne, Knox, Union	63 min
Feb 21, 10:50 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MRX	Loudon	55 min
Feb 21, 11:01 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MRX	Blount	59 min
Feb 21, 11:09 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MRX	Jefferson, Sevier	66 min
Feb 21, 11:09 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MRX	Grainger	66 min
Feb 21, 11:25 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MRX	Hamblen	65 min
Feb 21, 11:25 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MRX	Hancock	65 min
Feb 21, 11:50 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MRX	Cocke, Greene	55 min
Feb 21, 11:52 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MRX	Hawkins	68 min
Feb 21, 12:04 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MRX	Sullivan	6 min
Feb 21, 12:05 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MRX	Scott	55 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Tennessee, 1997 Every 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.