Alert archive / Tennessee / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Morristown, TN

March 3, 1997Blount County, Monroe County, Tennessee

NWS Morristown, TN issued this tornado warning at Mar 3, 1997, 6:46 AM EST for Blount County, Monroe County, Tennessee. It was in force for 29 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 3, 1997, 6:46 AM EST (11:46 UTC)
Expired
Mar 3, 1997, 7:15 AM EST
In force
29 min
Issued by
NWS Morristown, TN
Area
Whole counties

Counties Blount County, TN, Monroe County, TN

The radar

The Knoxville radar (KMRX), 91 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 11:48 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

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 00:00Z, 11.8 hours before the alert went out and 235 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 00:00Z on 1997-03-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 00:00Z on 1997-03-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 196 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
485 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
66 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
196 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
236 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.

000 
TTAA00 KMRX 031142 RRA
TORMRX
TNC009-123-031215-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KNOXVILLE TRI CITIES TN
646 AM EST MON MAR 3 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN KNOXVILLE TRI CITIES HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  715 AM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN EAST TENNESSEE
 
   ...BLOUNT COUNTY...MONROE COUNTY
 
DOPPLER RADAR INDICATES A POSSIBLE TORNADO ALONG HIGHWAY 441 ABOUT NEAR
VONORE NEAR THE MONROE-BLOUNT COUNTY LINE. IT IS MOVING NORTHEAST AT
ABOUT 60 MPH. IT WILL MOVE NEAR JENA BY ABOUT 7 AM AND TO MARYVILLE BY
715 AM.
 
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 SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.
 
BOYD

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 3, 5:50 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningMRXHancock3 hr
Mar 3, 6:30 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXMonroe, Polk60 min
Mar 3, 6:34 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXBlount, Monroe56 min
Mar 3, 7:13 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXJefferson, Knox32 min
Mar 3, 7:19 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXHamblen26 min
Mar 3, 7:25 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXKnox35 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.